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THE  BREATH  OF  GOD 


H  Sfeetcb 

HISTORICAL,  CRITICAL   AND   LOGICAL   OF. THE 
DOCTRINE    OF  INSPIRATION 


BY  THE 

REV.  FRANK  HALLAM 

AUTHOR  OF   "THE  SUPREME  RITE,"  "THE  DEVIL'S  MASTERPIECE,"  ETC. 


"Thou  sendest forth  Thy  breath." — Ps.  civ.  30. 
"  Come  from  the  four  winds,  O  breath."— Ezek.  xxxvii.  9. 


h 


NEW-YORK 
THOMAS  WHITTAKER 

2  AND  3  BIBLE  HOUSE 
1895 


73- 


Copyright,  1895, 

by 

Rev.  Frank  Hallam. 


PREFACE. 

THE  personal  opinions  of  any  man  about  questions  of  divine 
truth  are  of  little  consequence  to  any  but  himself.  It  is 
proper  and  fair  to  say,  however,  that  in  the  chapters  of  this 
little  volume  containing  the  "  array "  of  the  results  of  the 
Higher  Criticism  it  was  not  the  author's  intention  to  express 
his  own  convictions  upon  each  detail  of  criticism,  but  to  set 
forth  with  something  of  their  own  spirit  and  force  the  convic-/ 
tions  of  the  critics.  It  should  be  remembered  that  the  Higher 
Criticism  is  an  immature  and  incomplete  science.  It  is  not 
well  nor  wise  for  theologians  or  laymen  to  commit  themselves 
to  every  newly  alleged  fact  or  theory  of  scholars.  The  dis- 
coveries and  conclusions  of  one  day  are  often  reversed  by  those 
of  the  succeeding  period.  It  is  eminently  unwise  for  any  one 
to  deliver  himself  body  and  soul,  as  it  were,  to  the  power  of 
a  novel  and  specious  criticism  which  he  has  no  opportunity 
of  examining  at  first  hand,  but  must  accept,  if  he  accept  it 
at  all,  upon  the  ipse  dixit  of  another.  Implicit  faith  in  the  in- 
fallibility of  the  scientist,  the  philosopher,  the  scholar,  and  the 
critic  is  one  of  the  phases  of  modern  madness  unworthy  of  the 
intellectual  calibre  of  the  age.  Faith  in  the  infallibility  of 
God,  or  even  of  the  Bible,  were  infinitely  preferable  and  more 
rational.  This  author  was  not  present  at  the  Exodus,  nor 
did  he  follow,  after  the  fashion  of  the  immortal  misery  of  the 
Wandering  Jew,  the  sad  fortunes  of  Israel.  He  has  not 
deciphered  the  monuments  nor  unravelled  the  inscriptions  of 
Egyptian  and  Babylonian  tablets.     He  does  not,  by  the  wit- 

iii 


iv  PREFACE. 

ness.of  the  eye,  "know  the  certainty  of  those  things,  wherein 
thou  hast  been  instructed,"  in  all  the  particulars  of  criticism. 
He  merely  states  them  for  what  they  are  worth,  believing 
that  some  of  them  are  irresistible  in  point  of  fact,  and  others 
of  uncertain  accuracy  and  import ;  but  believing  also  that  if 
every  one  of  them  were  true,  "  the  word  of  God  is  quick  and 
powerful ;  "  that  it  "  liveth  and  abideth  forever  "  ;  that  it  is  the 
"  blessed  Lord  who  .  .  .  caused  all  holy  Scriptures  to  be  writ- 
ten for  our  learning  "  ;  and  that  they  are  "  written  .  .  .  with 
the  Spirit  of  the  living  God."  F.  H. 

March  10,  1895. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 
King  Liber i 


CHAPTER   II. 
His  Courtiers 7 

CHAPTER   III. 
His  Critics 27 

CHAPTER   IV. 
His  Blemishes 35 

CHAPTER   V. 
His  Limitations 48 

CHAPTER  VI. 
His  Ministers 59 

CHAPTER  VII. 
His  Friends 66 

CHAPTER   VIII. 
His  Divinity 77 

CHAPTER   IX. 
His  Exaltation 88 

CHAPTER   X. 

His  Power 95 

v 


THE   BREATH  OF   GOD. 


i. 


KING     LIBER. 


"  A  Prince  indeed, 
Beyond  all  titles,  and  a  household  name, 
Hereafter,  thro'  all  times." 

UNDER  the  mulberry-trees  the  pick  fell  and  the  city  was 
uncovered.  Below  it  lay  the  sea,  kissing  its  borders  with 
dimpled  waves.  Above  it  towered  the  mountain,  to-day  the 
sleeping  demon  of  a  past  devouring  fire.  Fierce  and  pitiless 
Vesuvius  had  poured  down  her  hail  of  burning  cinders  and 
rolled  upon  the  fated  place  her  flood  of  flame.  The  terror  of 
that  sudden  hour  to  the  people  of  Pompeii  no  voice  hath  ever 
told :  the  fright  and  the  attempted  flight ;  the  frantic  screams 
and  the  despairing  cries ;  the  overthrow  of  the  fleeing  multi- 
tude and  the  burial  in  the  tomb  of  fire. 

The  sea  receded  and  the  mountain  slept,  and  the  winds 
swept  dust  upon  the  mighty  grave.  The  grass  sprang  up  and 
grew,  and  the  wandering  herd  fed  there,  and  the  mulberry- 
trees  arose  and  bore  their  fruit ;  and  seventeen  hundred  years 
had  passed  away  before  the  eye  of  man  had  looked  beneath 
the  turf  to  see  that  the  burial  was  there.  But  then  the  pick 
flew,  and  moulded  history  came  to  light.  Houses  and  thorough- 
fares and  temples  and  theatres  were  unveiled.  The  mural 
pictures  still  adorned  the  walls.  Statuary  stood  in  the  accus- 
tomed places.     The  tradesman's  and  the  housewife's  tools 

i 


2  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

were  scattered  here  and  there,  to  hand,  as  though  the  work- 
man and  the  family  had  only  put  them  by  to  take  a  daily 
meal.  Now  and  again  the  pick  burst  into  a  shallow  hollow, 
and  careful  lifting  of  the  upper  crust  of  hardened  ashes  re- 
vealed the  mould  of  human  forms,  as  though  the  genius  of  the 
great  volcanic  mount  had  fashioned  them  with  an  art  that 
strangely  joined  and  intertwined  both  life  and  death.  The 
very  passions  of  the  human  heart  were  petrified.  The  tragedy 
of  love  was  there  in  stony  tableau.  In  one  spot  lay  the  fig- 
ure of  a  woman  with  arms  outstretched  to  clasp  the  figure  of 
a  child — the  image  of  a  mother's  imperishable  love,  wrought 
by  the  burning  of  her  body  in  the  solid  mould  within  the  sep- 
ulchre of  the  buried  and  forgotten  city. 

So  modern  enterprise,  spurred  by  a  zeal  for  antique  learn- 
ing, has  been  busy  throwing  up  the  dust  of  distant  lands  and 
bringing  buried  wisdom  into  light.  So  ages  that  have  slept 
have  been  awakened.  Despite  the  proverbs  of  the  world  the 
grave  has  yielded  up  its  secrets  and  the  dead  have  told  their 
tales.  Figures  have  come  to  view  of  men  of  whom  the  world 
knew  nothing.  Heroes  have  stood  again,  as  it  were,  upon 
their  feet,  and  walked  forth  to  battle  and  to  victory.  Histories 
have  been  made  alive.  Kings  have  been  clothed  in  their 
unknown  or  all-forgotten  royalty.  Myth  has  been  changed 
to  fact,  and  Agamemnon's  throne,  unearthed,  has  told  of  Aga- 
memnon's genuine  life  and  heroism. 

Among  the  figures  of  the  past,  standing  Sphinx-like,  partly 
hidden  in  the  sands  of  time,  is  one  that  overtowers  and  over- 
shadows all.  King  Liber  was  the  greatest  of  the  kings — the 
most  distinguished  of  all  history.  It  may  appear  impossible 
to  assign  such  rank.  It  may  appear  to  be  an  extravagance  of 
rhetoric,  a  flight  into  the  realm  of  myth  or  dreams  or  poetry. 
In  all  the  great  procession  of  the  royalties  which  have  risen 
successively  through  the  vast  stretch  of  centuries ;  of  men  of 
royal  character  and  genius  as  well  as  royal  birth,  who  have 
flashed  like  meteors  upon  the  skies  of  history,  and  swept  around 
their  cycles  as  the  stately  comet  sweeps  across  the  heavens,  it 


KING  LIBER.  3 

may  seem  difficult  to  nominate  a  king  of  kings.  Yet  this  is 
sober  truth,  not  poetry :  King  Liber  was  the  greatest  of  the 
kings.  Not  Bacchus,  god  of  the  trailing  and  the  fruitful  vine, 
whom  Romans  called  by  Liber's  name.  He  lived  before  and 
after  Bacchus ;  and  so  the  two  could  never  be  confused,  espe- 
cially as  men  have  defamed  the  deity  of  the  rich,  empurpled 
grape,  and  made  him  seem  the  god  of  filthy  drunkenness  and 
"  bacchanalian "  revels.  And  this  one  had  a  wider  and  a 
loftier  renown  than  all.  His  history  and  character  have  never 
been  unknown  from  the  hour  of  his  birth  in  that  far-off  oriental 
land  where  he  began  his  reign.  But  there  have  been  clouded 
periods  and  hidden  passages  in  his  career.  And  still  the 
clouds  of  time  are  partly  hanging  over  him.  But  research  has 
pierced  the  darkness  of  the  past  and  stripped  away  the  hin- 
drances to  sight,  and  now  his  princely  figure  stands  revealed 
as  it  has  never  been  before ;  and  men  may  trace  the  march  of 
his  conquests,  and  see  the  features  of  his  countenance,  and 
listen  to  his  speech  with  understanding,  and  feel  the  throbbing 
of  his  mighty  heart,  as  immortal  characters  may  be  seen  and 
felt  across  the  dying  ages.  And  therefore  it  is  to  a  calm,  dis- 
passionate judgment  and  to  a  sober,  reasonable  justice  that 
his  superiority  appeals.  Visions  may  be  summoned  of  the 
splendors  of  the  Pharaohs  in  their  poetic  land,  rich  in  its  his- 
tory of  culture  and  achievement.  The  monuments  may  tell 
their  stories  of  the  mighty  past.  The  Sphinx  may  half  reveal 
his  ancient  secret  as  he  stands  but  half  uncovered  in  the  des- 
ert, and  half  conceal  it  in  his  lips  of  stone.  The  pyramids 
may  linger  like  enduring  time,  the  symbols  of  that  immortality 
which  was  the  glory  of  Egyptian  faith,  and  lock  within  their 
cavernous  breasts  the  royal  mummies  which  in  hardened  silence 
proclaim  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  Armies  and  thrones 
and  palaces  and  temples  may  stand  in  magnificent  array,  to 
tell  of  splendor  and  power  and  wisdom,  matchless  in  their  age 
and  dazzling  future  ages.  But  King  Liber  had  a  wider  realm, 
a  greater  power,  a  statelier  magnificence,  a  loftier  wisdom  and 
enlightenment. 


4  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

Imagination  may  revel  in  the  pictures  of  the  empires  of  the 
earth.  It  may  picture  Alexander  in  the  flood  of  his  youthful 
brilliancy  conquering  nation  after  nation,  until  insatiate  ambi- 
tion had  wrung  tears,  in  curious  paradox,  from  the  flashing, 
martial  eyes.  It  may  see  the  mighty  Caesars  shaking  the  na- 
tions with  their  mailed  hands,  and  treading  them  beneath  their 
feet  with  victorious  armies,  and  building  up  the  empire  with 
the  vigor  of  the  Roman  arms,  and  with  the  wisdom  of  the 
Roman  sages,  and  with  the  symmetry  and  strength  of  Roman 
law,  and  with  the  culture  of  their  poets  and  orators  and  states- 
men, until  the  "  Eternal  City  "  had  become  "  the  mistress  of 
the  world."  Imagination  may  portray  the  rising  glories  of 
Charlemagne  bedimming  those  of  fallen  Rome,  consolidating 
government,  enriching  justice,  and  spreading  learning  abroad 
throughout  his  realms ;  or  Alfred  of  England,  in  his  goodness 
and  greatness,  laying  the  foundations,  as  a  master  builder 
among  kings,  of  the  grandest  of  modern  kingdoms ;  or  Cceur 
de  Lion,  in  his  chivalry  and  faith,  fighting  for  the  sepulchre  of 
the  Monarch  of  all  life.  But  King  Liber  has  blotted  out  the 
boundary-lines  of  nations,  and  conquered  all  the  worlds,  and 
built  up  the  empire  of  all  time.  His  laws  have  shaped  the 
legislation  of  all  future  history.  His  dominion  has  stretched 
across  the  centuries.  His  wisdom  is  like  the  wisdom  of  the 
Infinite.  His  culture  is  the  culture  of  eternity.  He  has  con- 
quered souls,  not  territory.  He  has  won  for  himself  an  ever- 
lasting honor  and  renown.     His  reign  will  never  end. 

The  poets  said  he  was  the  child  of  God;  and  saints  and 
pilgrims  have  caught  up  the  rhythm  of  their  song  and  sung 
it  through  the  centuries.  But  he  was  not  a  god.  Yet  men 
gave  him  an  apotheosis.  As  the  greatest  of  the  emperors, 
though  he  was  never  decorated  with  the  title  of  Augustus,  be- 
cause he  was  essentially  august  they  crowned  him,  not  with 
bay  and  olive,  nor  with  gold  and  flashing  jewels,  but  with  the 
crown  of  reverence  and  praise ;  and  they  fell  down  and  wor- 
shipped him.  And  the  imperial  gods  of  ancient  Rome  never 
looked  so  royal  in  imperial  purple  and  resplendent  diadems. 


KING  LIBER.  5 

They  never  won  such  worship  in  the  pomp  of  their  living 
power  or  in  the  lavish  magnificence  of  those  royal  sepulchres 
which  became  their  shrines. 

King  Liber  saw  the  beginnings  of  his  life  in  the  land  of 
Moab  or  of  Canaan,  it  is  said,  three  thousand  years  ago.  He 
lives  and  reigns  to-day.    Let  us  look  into  his  face  and  history. 

King  Liber,  translated  into  English,  is  the  Bible,  or  the 
Book.  And  the  Bible  has  been  enthroned  and  worshipped ; 
yes,  worshipped.  It  is  a  curious  piece  of  history,  but  it  is 
true ;  the  Bible  has  been  practically  worshipped,  for  centuries 
past,  in  the  gathered  volume,  and,  before  the  gathering  of  the 
volume,  in  the  earlier  books.  There  was  never  any  shrine  or 
idol  that  had  more  superstitious  homage.  There  was  never 
any  charm  or  relic,  blessed  to  avert  disaster,  which  had,  in 
men's  opinions,  a  greater  power  to  swerve  the  bullet  from  the 
heart  or  turn  the  edge  of  the  sword.  There  was  never  any 
oracle  which  men  more  blindly  sought,  or  looked  to  more 
submissively  for  judgment.  Its  power  has  been  unparalleled 
in  its  range  of  time  and  territory.  Its  worshippers  have  been 
among  the  leading  races  of  mankind ;  among  the  most  intelli- 
gent and  enlightened  people ;  among  the  disciples  of  the  most 
exalted  religion  in  the  world.  It  has  been  invested  with  su- 
preme authority  in  every  line  and  precept,  in  every  metaphor 
and  illustration,  in  every  word  and  syllable,  in  every  jot  and 
tittle.  It  has  stood,  as  Herod  stood,  "gorgeously  arrayed," 
resplendent  and  dazzling  by  its  superb  presence,  until  men 
shouted,  "  It  is  the  voice  of  a  god,  and  not  of  " — a  book. 

In  the  highest  Christian  culture  of  to-day  there  is  reverence 
as  high  and  honor  as  profound  for  the  eternal  truths  of  Scrip- 
ture, and  there  is  worship  as  devout  for  their  divine  Source,  as 
ever  in  the  ages  past.  Let  it  not  be  thought  that  in  speaking 
of  the  superstitious  folly  of  men  there  is  a  breath  of  irreverence 
toward  God  or  dishonor  to  his  incomparable  Word.  There  is 
reverence  to-day,  wise  and  discriminating.  But  there  is  also 
a  blind  fanaticism,  lingering  after  the  ages  of  darkness,  which 
converts  the  Bible  into  a  fetish  as  absolute  and  awful,  as  pre- 


6  ,      THE  BREATH  OE  GOD. 

posterous  and  vain,  as  was  ever  made  by  heathen  hands  on 
the  banks  of  the  Congo  or  the  Nile.  And  all  because  the 
Bible  has  been  thought  to  be  inspired,  which  seemed  to  mean 
handed  down,  in  part  at  least,  from  heaven ;  written  with  the 
hand  of  Deity ;  written  under  the  divine  dictation,  when  men 
became  machines  and  lost  their  personality,  when  every  human 
element  was  snatched  from  the  writers  except  the  guiding  of 
the  pen  across  the  shining  parchment,  when  human  souls  were 
practically  dumb  and  dead,  and  the  Spirit  of  the  Godhead 
usurped  their  place  and  functions. 
Let  us  trace  the  history  of  this  cultus. 


II. 

HIS   COURTIERS. 

"  The  shadow  of  his  loss  drew  like  eclipse, 
Darkening  the  world." 

"  To  us  the  imagined  voice  of  God  himself." 

SIX  hundred  years  before  the  coming  of  the  Christ  the 
sound  of  war  was  in  the  land  of  Israel.  The  Babyloni- 
ans had  come,  and  King  Zedekiah  trembled  in  Jerusalem. 
The  sacred  city  was  besieged  and  fell.  The  king  was  blinded 
and  carried  off  to  Babylon,  the  people  led  into  captivity.  The 
gorgeous  temple,  that  masterpiece  of  ancient  architecture,  the 
symbol  and  the  dwelling-place  of  Israel's  God,  was  rifled  of 
its  treasures  and  destroyed.  The  sacred  oracles  were  lost. 
The  books,  which  Israel  held  more  dear,  perhaps,  than  any 
other  treasure,  were  mingled  with  the  wreck  of  storm  and  fire 
and  vandalism  which  followed  in  the  track  of  conquest. 

A  century  and  a  half  had  passed  away,  when  out  of  the 
land  of  captivity  Ezra  came  to  work  a  restoration.  He  was 
clothed  with  authority  from  the  foreign  masters,  and  was  a 
priest  of  God.  The  temple  might  be  built  again  and  the 
nation  restored  to  its  illustrious  worship.  But  the  sacred 
books  were  gone — obliterated  !  The  nation  was  without  a 
law  and  without  an  oracle!  What  could  be  done?  Moses 
was  dead,  and  his  grave  lay  hidden  "  by  Nebo's  lonely  moun- 
tain." He  could  not  write  again  with  living  hand  the  precious 
laws,  or  trace  the  illustrious  history.  It  was  a  dire  extremity. 
How  could  its  pressing  needs  be  met  ?  * 

*  The  capture  of  Jerusalem  and  the  burning  of  the  temple  are  histor- 
ical ;  l  the  burning  of  the  sacred  books  only  traditional.  It  is  natural  to 
suppose  that   the   sacred  writings   kept   in   the   temple  may  have  been 

1  II.  Kings  xxv.  8,  9. 
7 


8  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

History  is  silent  on  the  subject  for  almost  all  of  six  long 
centuries.  But  near  the  end  of  the  first  century  of  the  Chris- 
tian era  the  second  book  of  Esdras  was  written.  We  do  not 
know  its  author,  nor  the  exact  year  of  its  completion.  We  do 
not  shut  our  eyes  to  the  tremendous  gulf  of  time  that  stretches 
between  the  disastrous  situation  in  Jerusalem  and  the  time  of 
II.  Esdras.  But  the  author  was  bold  to  hazard  a  solution 
of  the  difficulty — to  write  as  sober  history  a  brilliant  story, 
worthy  of  a  prophetic  power  to  pierce  the  darkness  of  the 
hidden  years,  or  illustrious  as  a  daring  feat  of  the  imagina- 
tion. It  is  a  story  of  sublime  faith  in  the  omnipotent  power 
of  God  to  meet  all  exigencies,  and  of  an  unparalleled  gift,  in 

"  burnt " ;  but  other  copies  probably  survived,  in  the  hands  of  scribes  or 
other  individuals.  Portions  of  the  law,  at  least,  were  in  the  hands  of  lay 
people.  The  king  was  to  have  a  copy  of  such  parts  as  related  to  him.1 
"Fathers"  were  to  teach  its  precepts  to  "children."2  Every  seven 
years,  at  the  feast  of  Tabernacles,  Deuteronomy  was  to  be  read  to  the 
gathered  people.  And  the  later  custom  of  reading  the  Scriptures  in  the 
synagogues  perhaps  was  foreshadowed  by  earlier  public  or  quasi-public 
readings.  Copies  of  the  Scriptures  were  certainly  made,  and  must  have 
been  either  rescued  from  the  burning  temple,  or  preserved  in  royal 
libraries  or  state  custody,  or  in  the  hands  of  priests  or  other  officers  of 
the  church  or  state.3  Otherwise  we  should  be  driven  to  believe  that  the 
church  and  nation  had  committed  the  folly  of  maintaining  a  solitary  vol- 
ume of  the  law  and  Scripture,  and  to  the  acceptance  of  the  fable  of  II.  Es- 
dras ;  or  else  we  should  have  to  believe  that  the  entire  Scripture  was 
unwritten  till  after  the  captivity.  But  the  tradition  that  the  books  were 
burned,  and  that  Ezra  rewrote  them,  was  believed  by  prominent  Christian 
fathers,  and  in  early  Christian  writings,  such  as  Clement  of  Alexandria,4 
Tertullian,5  and  Chrysostom,6  and  in  an  old  writing  attributed  to  Augus- 
tine,7 and  in  the  Clementine  homilies.8  Irenaeus,9  Theodoret,10  and  Basil n 
thought  that  the  Scriptures  were  corrupted  during  the  captivity,  and  that 

I  Deut.  xvii.  18-20.  2  Deut.  vi.  7-9. 

3  Deut.  xxxi.  26;  cf.  I.  Sam.  x.  25.  4  Stromata,  i.,  22. 

5  De  Cultu  fceminarum,  c.  3. 

6  Horn,  viii.,  in  Ep.  Heb.,  Migne's  ed.,  xvii.,  74- 

7  De  Mirab.  Sac.  Scrip.,  ii.,  33.  8  Horn,  iii.,  c.  47. 

9  Adv.  Haereses,  iii.,  21,  22.  10  Praef.  in  Psalmos. 

II  Epis.  ad  Chilonem,  Migne's  ed.,  iv.,  358. 


HIS    COURTIERS.  9 

all  the  history  of  miracle,  to  Ezra  his  servant,  the  priest  and 
scribe.  It  is  important  to  be  mentioned  here,  because  this 
story  has  spread  its  influence  all  down  the  after-centuries,  and 
lent  its  color  to  much  subsequent  thought  about  the  origin  of 
the  Bible.  It  tells  of  how  Ezra  pleaded  before  the  everlasting 
throne  that  the  nation  might  be  lifted  out  of  its  solemn  diffi- 
culty ;  and  how  the  answer  came.  God  lit  "  a  candle  of  un- 
derstanding "  in  his  heart.  The  light  and  flame  were  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  The  heart  was  warmed  and  the  understanding 
saw;  and  to  the  kindling  vision  of  the  scribe  Moses  and  all 
Israel  sprang  up  again  out  of  the  hidden  past.  History  and 
the  law  were  called  back,  and,  word  for  word,  as  they  had 
stood  before  in  the  lost  books,  the  sacred  writings  were  restored.* 
This  is  the  beginning  of  King  Liber's  open  history.  This 
was  the  period  of  his  coronation.     Ezra  "  slew  idolatry  "  and 

Ezra  restored  them.  Jerome  is  "  indifferent "  to  whether  Moses  or  Ezra 
was  the  author  of  the  Pentateuch.  1  Bellarmine  thought  that  the  books 
were  not  entirely  lost,  and  that  Ezra  corrected  and  improved  the  copies  he 
restored.2 

*  "  For  thy  law  is  burnt,  therefore  no  man  knoweth  the  things  that  are 
done  of  thee  or  the  works  that  shall  begin.  But  if  I  have  found  grace 
before  thee,  send  the  Holy  Ghost  into  me,  and  I  shall  write  all  that  hath 
been  done  in  the  world  since  the  beginning,  which  were  written  in  thy 
law,  that  men  may  find  thy  path.  And  he  answered  me,  saying,  .  .  . 
Come  hither  and  I  will  light  a  candle  of  understanding  in  thine  heart, 
which  shall  not  be  put  out  till  the  things  be  performed  which  thou  shalt 
begin  to  write,  and  when  thou  hast  done  some  things  shalt  thou  publish, 
and  some  shalt  thou  show  secretly  to  the  wise :  to-morrow  at  this  hour 
shalt  thou  begin  to  write.  .  .  .  And  the  next  day,  behold,  a  voice  called 
me,  saying,  Esdras,  open  thy  mouth,  and  drink  what  I  give  thee  to  drink! 
Then  opened  I  my  mouth,  and,  behold,  he  reached  me  a  full  cup,  which 
was  full  as  it  were  with  water,  but  the  color  of  it  was  like  fire,  and  I  took 
it  and  drank :  and  when  I  had  drunk  of  it,  my  heart  uttered  understand- 
ing, and  wisdom  grew  in  my  breast,  for  my  spirit  strengthened  my  mem- 
ory."— II.  Esdras  xiv.  21-26,  38-40.  In  the  power  of  this  gift,  the  story 
goes  on  to  say,  ninety-four  books  were  written  in  forty  days.  Of  these 
Ezra  was  to  "  publish  openly  "  the  first  twenty-four.     The  other  seventy 

1  Adv.  Helvidiium.  2  jje  Verbo  Dei,  lib.  2. 


10  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

lifted  a  book  above  the  dismantled  altars  to  occupy  the  vacant 
throne.  This  is  the  beginning  of  the  history  of  Inspiration — 
that  mystic  word  which  we  would  fain  unveil  within  these 
pages.  This  is  the  most  brilliant  instance  of  the  highest  the- 
ory in  human  thought ;  an  illustration  of  the  blowing  of  the 
Breath  of  God. 

What  shall  we  think  of  it,  and  all  its  progeny  of  varying 
opinion,  as  we  trace  their  history  through  thirty  centuries  ?  It 
is  not  a  definition,  but  the  allegation  of  a  fact.  The  books 
beyond  the  reach  of  human  recovery  were  copied  through  the 
direct  enlightenment  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  God  breathed  his 
breath,  or  Spirit,  into  the  ardent  scribe.  Is  it  true  ?  Is  it 
true  of  all  the  sacred  writers  and  of  all  the  Scripture  canon  ? 
Is  the  Bible  inspired  ?  Did  God  breathe  into  it  the  breath  of 
spiritual  life  ? 

i.  The  Talmud  thought  so,  much  as  Esdras  thought  so, 
without  defining  the  nature  of  the  fact — the  Talmud,  that 
marvelous  rival  and  outstripper  of  the  books  themselves :  oral 
at  first,  supplementary  to  the  Law  and  explanatory  of  it,  and 
then  growing  superior  to  it  in  the  Jewish  estimation,  and 
written  down  with  endless  detail  and  refinement.  In  many 
utterances  it  paid  its  tribute  to  the  Law  as  "  given  by  inspira- 
tion of  God." 

And  Philo  thought  so — the  Jewish  scholar,  the  Alexandrian 
philosopher,  the  brilliant  writer  and  exponent  of  Jewish 
thought ;  among  the  first  of  their  authorities  at  the  Christian 
era,  distinguished  as  one  of  their  master  minds  in  all  the 
centuries  since.  He  speaks  of  "  sacred  Scriptures,"  "  sacred 
books,"  the  "  sacred  Word,"  the  "  oracle,"  as  the  Talmud  does. 
He  speaks  of  different  degrees  of  inspiration,  but  says  that 
the  prophets  had  the  divine  communications  in  an  "ecstasy," 
and  were  "  passive  "  under  them.    "  The  prophet,"  he  declares, 

he  was  to  show  only  "  to  such  as  be  wise."  The  twenty-four  were  the 
twenty-four  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  number  by  the  Jewish  com- 
putation. Yet  at  the  time  of  Ezra  many  of  those  books  had  not  been 
written  and  their  authors  had  not  been  born. 


HIS    COURTIERS.  II 

"gives  forth  nothing  of  his  own,  but  acts  at  the  prompting 
of  another  in  all  his  utterances.  As  long  as  he  is  under 
inspiration  he  is  in  ignorance,  his  reason  departing  from  its 
place  and  yielding  up  the  citadel  of  his  soul,  the  Divine  Spirit 
enters  into  it  and  dwells  in  it." 1  He  insists  that  there  is 
"  nothing  superfluous  in  the  law."  2  Every  word  is  divine. 
Even  Hebraisms  have  a  special  significance,  such  as  "blessing 
I  will  bless,"  and  "let  him  die  the  death."  And  the  little 
words  as  well,  as  in  "brought  him  out,"  and  "thou  shalt  not 
plant  thyself  a  vineyard."  But  Philo  was  enthusiastic  on  the 
matter  of  inspiration.  He  ascribed  it  to  the  Septuagint;*  to 
the  great  philosophers ;  to  all  good  men ;  and,  in  rapt  mo- 
ments, even  to  himself.     Plato  is  the  "most  sacred,"  Hera- 

1  De  Special,  Legg.,  iv.,  8  (Mangey,  ii.,  343). 

2  De  Prof.,  10  (Mang.,  i.,  554). 

*  The  Septuagint  is  the  Greek  translation  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures — 
apparently  the  earliest  translation  ever  made.  History  tells  us  that  it 
was  a  growth.  When  it  began,  and  how  long  it  continued,  and  by  whom 
it  was  made,  cannot  be  determined.  The  earliest  mention  of  it  is  in  a 
forged  letter  signed  by  the  name  of  Aristeas,  an  officer  of  Ptolemy  Phila- 
delphus.  This  Ptolemy  reigned  in  Egypt  thirty-eight  years,  beginning  in 
285  B.C.  The  next  direct  evidence  of  its  existence  is  given  by  Aristobu- 
lus,  the  Jewish-Alexandrian  philosopher,  who  lived  in  the  reign  of  Ptol- 
emy Philometor,  180-145  B.C. ;  and  the  next  in  the  prologue  to  Ecclesias- 
ticus,  which  shows  that  it  was  known  in  130  B.C.  By  the  time  of  Christ 
it  was  current  among  the  Jews — the  popular  version  read  in  the  syna- 
gogues and  used  by  the  apostles.  Afterward  it  was  the  version  referred 
to  and  quoted  by  the  New  Testament,  and  the  version  used  by  the  Chris- 
tian fathers  and  the  Christian  people  of  the  early  centuries.  Its  name 
comes  from  a  fable  in  the  forged  letter  of  Aristeas,  which  said  that  Deme- 
trius Phalereus,  keeper  of  the  library  at  Alexandria,  begged  Ptolemy 
Philadelphus  to  have  a  translation  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  made.  That 
the  king  assented;  sent  commissioners  to  Eleazar,  the  high  priest  at  Jeru- 
salem, asking  him  to  send  six  scholars  from  each  of  the  twelve  tribes  to 
Alexandria  to  make  it ;  and  that  this  was  clone.  The  fable  continues  to 
the  effect  that  the  translators  were  confined  in  separate  cells,  and  each 
made  his  translation  alone  ;  and  that  when  the  translations  were  completed 
and  compared  they  were  found  to  be  all  literally  alike.  As  there  were 
seventy-two  translators — seventy  in  round  numbers     the  version  became 


12  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

clitus  the  "great  and  renowned,"  Parmenides,  Empedocles, 
Zeno,  and  Cleanthes,  "  godlike  men,  and  as  it  were  a  true  and 
in  the  strict  sense  sacred  band."  * 

A  half-century  after  Philo,  Josephus  arises  to  give  his  testi- 
mony— the  great  Jewish  historian  of  the  Christian  era ;  a  "  He- 
brew of  the  Hebrews  " ;  of  high  political  prominence  among 
his  countrymen,  and  influential  at  the  courts  of  Nero  and 
Vespasian.  "  He  speaks  of  '  the  Deity  as  being  present  with ' 
a  writer ;  of  '  holding  converse  with  God ' ;  of  '  being  possessed 
or  inspired  by  God ' ;  of  '  being  filled  with  Deity ' ;  of  '  being 
in  a  state  of  divine  inspiration ' ;  of  '  the  Spirit  of  God  taking 
hold  of  the  prophets ' ;  of  '  the  divine  gift  passing  over '  from 
one  person  to  another."  2  He  says  that  Balaam  prophesied, 
"  not  as  master  of  himself,  but  moved  to  say  what  he  did  by 
the  divine  Spirit."  3  He  represents  Balaam  as  though  saying 
to  Balak,  "  Thinkest  thou  that  it  is  in  our  power  to  speak  or 
be  silent  .  .  .  when  the  Spirit  of  God  takes  possession  of  us  ? 
For  he  causes  us  to  utter  words  such  as  he  wills  and  speeches 
without  our  knowledge  ...  for  when  he  has  entered  into 
us  nothing  that  is  in  us  is  any  longer  our  own."  4  He  declares 
that  the  Jews,  from  the  hour  of  their  birth,  esteem  the  Scrip- 
ture as  the  "decrees  of  God,"  and,  as  the  evidence  of  their 
fidelity  and  reverence  toward  the  Bible,  that  "  no  one  has  ever 
dared  to  add  or  subtract  or  alter  anything  in  it."  5 

2.  The  Rabbins — which  is  the  same  as  rabbis,  which -is  the 
same  as  teachers,  masters,  doctors — according  to  all  acounts 
of  them,  were  believers  in  the  highest  literal  and  verbal  in- 
spiration. Organized  in  the  Sanhedrin  before  and  after  the 
time  of  Christ,  and  represented  from  century  to  century  by 
the  learned  scholars  of  later  days,  they  have  ever  stood  as 

known  as  the  translation  of  the  Seventy,  or  the  Septuagint.     Philo  be- 
lieved this  fable.     Hence  his  belief  in  the  inspiration  of  the  Septuagint. 

1  Passages  in  Schiirer,  Gesch.  d.  Jiid.  Volkes,  ii.,  868. 

2  Inspiration,  Sanday,  p.  77. 

3  Josephus,  Antiquities,  iv.,  6,  5. 

4  Contra  Apion,  i.,  8.  5  Ibid. 


HIS   COURTIERS.  13 

leading  representatives  of  Jewish  thought.  They  said  that  God 
handed  the  Mosaic  writings  already  written  from  heaven;1 
that  Jehovah  himself  was  so  fascinated  by  their  perfection 
that  he  spent  three  hours  a  day  in  the  study  of  them;2  that 
"  the  numbers  of  the  letters,  every  single  letter,  the  collocation 
of  every  letter,  the  transposition,  the  substitution,  had  a  spe- 
cial, even  a  supernatural  power."  3  The  later  Jews  preserved  a 
tradition  that  when  Moses  went  up  into  Mount  Sinai  "he 
found  Jehovah  making  the  ornamental  letters  in  the  book  of 
the  Law."  "  They  were  most  scrupulous  in  recording  every 
little  peculiarity  of  writing,  every  correction  or  variety  of 
reading ;  they  counted  every  word,  every  verse,  every  letter ; 
recorded  how  many  times  each  separate  letter  of  the  alphabet 
occurs ;  told  how  often  the  same  word  occurs  at  the  begin- 
ning, middle  or  end  of  a  verse ;  they  gave  the  middle  verse, 
middle  word,  middle  letter  of  each  book  of  the  Pentateuch ; 
they  would  not  dare  to  alter  in  the  text  even  an  evident  mis- 
take, but  had  an  intricate  method  of  indicating  it  on  the  mar- 
gin. '  My  son,'  said  Rabbi  Ishmael,  '  take  great  heed  how 
thou  doest  thy  work — for  thy  work  is  the  work  of  Heaven — 
lest  thou  drop  or  add  a  letter  of  the  manuscript,  and  so  be- 
come a  destroyer  of  the  world.'  "  4 

And  yet  the  rabbins  and  the  later  Jews  did  not  rank  the 
Scriptures  on  a  single  level  of  inspiration.  Their  Bible  was 
marked  with  three  great  divisions  :  the  Law,  the  Prophets,  and 
the  Hagiographa  or  Sacred  Writings.  These,  in  themselves, 
imply  a  distinction.  Maimonides,  a  learned  Spanish  rabbi  of 
the  twelfth  century,  elaborates  eleven  degrees  of  inspiration.5 
The  modern  Jews,  as  represented  by  Abarbonel,  have  reduced 
these  to  three*  The  Mosaic  is  first,  the  Prophetic  second, 
and  that  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  strange  to  say,  the  third  and  low- 

1  How  God  Inspired  the  Bible,  Smyth,  p.  50.  a  Ibid. 

3  Hist.  Interp.,  Farrar,  p.  97  (quoted). 

4  Old  Documents  and  New  Bible,  Smyth,  p.  91. 

5  The  Inspiration  of  Holy  Scripture,  William  Lee,  D.D.,  p.  457. 

6  Ibid. 


14  THE   BREATH  OF  GOD. 

est.  With  all  the  Jews  Moses,  in  this  matter,  is  ever  facile 
princeps.  Maimonides  says:  "  All  the  other  prophets  saw  the 
prophecy  in  a  dream  or  in  a  vision ;  but  our  Rabbi  Moses 
while  he  was  awake.1  To  all  the  other  prophets  it  was  re- 
vealed through  the  medium  of  an  angel  .  .  .  but  to  Moses 
it  is  said,  '  With  him  will  I  speak  mouth  to  mouth,' 2  and  '  face 
to  face  ;' y  and  '  as  a  man  speaketh  unto  his  friend.'  "  4 

3.  From  the  rabbins  we  look  onward  to  the  Christian 
Fathers.  They  also  rise  out  of  the  dim  distance  and  bear 
witness.  It  is  not  infallible.  It  is  not  the  voice  of  authority. 
They  were  not  themselves  inspired.  They  stand  upon  a  level 
with  saints  and  doctors  in  all  ages;  and  faith  and  learning 
to-day  may  teach  as  much,  or  more,  as  in  the  days  gone  by. 
But  time  and  distance  have  invested  the  fathers  with  a  mel- 
low radiance,  and  mediaeval  sentimentalism  has  crowned  their 
reverend  heads  with  halos  of  glory.  They  stand  far  off  from 
us,  and  "  distance  lends  enchantment  to  the  view."  They 
stand  comparatively  near,  in  point  of  time,  to  the  origin  of 
Christianity.  In  point  of  fact,  they  stood  far  off  in  many 
instances.  A  hundred  long  and  weary  years  from  Christ — or 
two  centuries,  or  five — may  as  effectually  close  the  door  to 
knowledge  as  twenty.  Tradition  revels  in  inaccuracies.  But 
in  the  lapse  of  time  a  century  becomes  a  unit,  and  the  long 
perspective,  which  makes  the  horizon  kiss  the  sea,  makes  the 
units  touch  each  other,  until  it  seems  as  though  the  centuries 
were  linking  hands,  and  the  age  of  Constantine  falls  into  the 
embrace  of  that  of  Christ.  But  still  the  fathers  are  justly  rich 
in  modern  memory.  They  were  among  the  pioneers  and 
heroes  of  the  cross.  They  bear  illustrious  names,  and  belong 
to  an  illustrious  line.  If  human  opinion  in  testimony  to  a  fact 
has  any  value,  the  opinions  of  the  fathers  have  distinguished 
merit.  Clement  of  Rome  says  that  the  sacred  writings  are 
"  true  words  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  5     Justin  Martyr,  that  the 

1  Yad  Hachazakah,  ch.  vii.,  p.  116  (Bernard's  translation). 

2  Num.  xii.  8.  3  Ex.  xxxiii.  II.  4  Ibid. 
5  Quoted  by  Smyth,  How  God  Inspired  the  Bible,  p.  74. 


HIS    COURTIERS.  15 

Spirit  acted  on  the  writers  as  "  the  plectrum  striking  the 
lyre."  1  Athenagoras  says  that  "the  Spirit  uses  the  writers  as 
a  flute-player  might  blow  into  his  flute." 2  Irenseus :  "  We  know 
the  Scriptures,  as  being  spoken  by  the  Word  of  God  and  his 
Spirit." 3  Tertullian :  "  I  adore  the  perfection  of  Scriptures. 
...  If  it  is  not  written,  let  them  fear  the  woe  which  is  des- 
tined for  them  who  add  to  or  take  away."4  Athanasius: 
"  The  holy  and  divinely  inspired  Scriptures  are  of  themselves 
sufficient  to  the  enunciation  of  the  truth."  5  Basil :  "  Believe 
those  things  which  are  written ;  the  things  which  are  not 
written  seek  not." 6  Tertullian  speaks  of  the  Scriptures  as 
"  uttered  by  God  and  dictated  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  "  He 
will  not  allow  to  Valentinian  that  there  are  any  varying  de- 
grees of  inspiration,  nor  to  Marcion  that  Paul's  insight  was 
any  deeper  than  that  of  other  apostles."7  He  thought  that 
the  divine  communications  were  given  to  the  writers  in  an 
"ecstasy"  or  "trance."8  Clement  of  Alexandria  believed  in 
"  verbal  inspiration  and  the  complete  infallibility  of  Scrip- 
ture." 9  Augustine  10  "  speaks  of  the  Gospels  as  dictated  by 
the  Head  of  the  church,  and  generally  asserts  the  infallible 
accuracy  of  every  word  of  Scripture."  He  calls  the  writers 
"  pens  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  n  Eusebius  "  is  indignant  that 
one  should  assert  the  possibility  of  the  psalmist  making  a  mis- 
take in  a  name."  12  He  says  that  "  the  divine  Scriptures  were 
spoken  by  the  Holy  Ghost."13  Origen,  the  greatest  scholar 
among  Christians  of  his  day,  says  that  "  Christ,  the  Word  of 
God,  was  in  Moses  and  the  prophets  .  .  .  and  by  his  Spirit 
they  spake  and  did  all  things."  u    He  "  believed  in  the  inspira- 

1  Quoted  by  Smyth,  How  God  Inspired  the  Bible,  p.  74. 

2  Quoest.  ad  Autolyc.,  ii.,  9. 

3  Verbo  Dei,  etc.,  lib.  2.,  c.  47.  4  Adv.  Hermogenem,  c.  22. 
5  Contra  Gentes,  torn,  i.,  p.  I.  Basil,  Horn.  xxix. 

7  Bamp.  Lee.,  1885,  p.  177;  Apol.,  18;  De  Pudic.,  17. 

8  How  God  Inspired  the  Bible,  Smyth,  p.  75.  9  Ibid. 

10  Ibid.  11  Bamp.  Lee.,  1885,  p.  237. 

12  How  God  Inspired  the  Bible,  p.  75. 

13  Westcott,  Introduction,  p.  417.  14  Ibid.,  p.  430. 


1 6  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

tion  of  the  Septuagint 1  and  saw  hidden  mysteries  in  its  sole- 
cisms and  errors."  2  * 

But  the  fathers  were  not  always  consistent.  Great  and 
famous  and  full  of  faith  and  deeply  reverential,  the  critical 
faculty  was  not  always  dead  in  them.  They  sometimes  picked 
flaws  in  the  sacred  Word,  and  arraigned  it  before  the  bar  of 
reason,  and  found  sentence  against  it,  as  we  shall  see. 

4.  In  the  "  dark  ages  "  f  there  was  naturally  no  flood  of 
light  cast  upon  the  question  of  Inspiration.  Christian  opinion, 
more  blindly,  remained  the  same  as  in  the  early  centuries  ;  and 
largely  so  throughout  the  scholastic  period.  %  Commentaries 
and  treatises  and  volumes  were  but  the  echoes  of  the  senti- 
ments of  the  fathers.  Questions  springing  out  of  the  critical 
faculty  were  answered  by  the  allegorical  interpretation  §  or  by 
the  voice  of  the  papacy. 

By  the  allegorical  method  the  letter  was  divine,  but  the 
spirit  was  diviner  still.  There  was  a  literal  sense,  of  course ; 
but  there  was  also  a  mystical  sense,  more  luminous  and  lofty. 
The  method  was  ■  begotten  of  Aristobulus,  and  matured  by 

1  Origen,  Philokal,  p.  33.  2  Bamp.  Lee,  1885,  p.  189. 

*  The  opinions  of  the  fathers  here  given  are  few  in  number,  but  they 
are  fair  examples  of  the  opinions  of  all.  To  quote  them  more  freely  is 
only  to  multiply  repetitions. 

t  From  the  seventh  to  the  twelfth  centuries. 

t  From  the  twelfth  to  the  sixteenth  centuries. 

§  The  use  of  allegory  in  interpreting  Scripture  arose  among  the  Alex- 
andrian Jews  in  the  second  century  B.C.  Aristobulus  (160  B.C.),  a  Jew 
of  Alexandria,  is  the  first  known  to  have  used  it.  Instances  of  it  first 
appear  in  some  fragments  of  his  and  in  the  forged  letter  of  Aristeas. 
Aristobulus  was  a  Peripatetic  philosopher,  and,  charmed  with  the  Platonic 
thought,  he  sought  a  harmony  between  the  beauty  of  Greek  ideas  and  the 
revelation  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  He  would  exalt  Moses  and  Abra- 
ham in  the  eyes  of  the  cultured  Greeks.  He  would  lift  the  Law  and  the 
history  of  the  chosen  people,  even  in  trivial  details  of  expression,  to  stand 
upon  a  level  with  the  high  conceits  of  philosophy.  So  it  came  about  that 
the  letter  of  Scripture  was  thought  to  be  written  only  for  the  ignorant. 
The  learned  and  spiritual  might  pierce  through  the  precincts  of  the  letter 
and  stand  within  the  boundaries  of  a  new  world  of  grand  ideas. 


HIS   COURTIERS.  17 

Philo,  and  propelled  far  down  into  the  Christian  centuries. 
To  illustrate :  Philo  says,  "  It  would  be  a  sign  of  great  sim- 
plicity to  think  that  the  world  was  created  in  six  days,  or  in- 
deed at  all  in  time."  Six  was  a  perfect  number.  Again,  that 
"  God  planted  a  garden  in  Eden  ...  let  not  such  fabulous 
nonsense  ever  enter  your  minds." 1  God  plants  virtue  on 
earth  in  human  souls.  Augustine  says  that  the  drunkenness 
of  Noah  was  "  a  figure  of  the  death  and  passion  of  Christ."  2 
Thomas  Aquinas  says  that  the  words  in  Genesis  known  as  the 
fiat  of  creation,  "  Let  there  be  light,"  mean  "  Let  Christ  be 
love."3  Pope  Boniface  VIII.  declared  that  Christ's  com- 
mand to  Peter,  "  Feed  my  lambs,"  because  kings  were  not 
excepted,  gave  him  power  to  set  aside  their  decrees ;  that  the 
plural  "  keys "  in  the  apostolic  commission  meant  kingly  as 
well  as  papal  power ;  that  Christ's  injunction  to  the  fishermen, 
"  Launch  out  into  the  deep,"  meant  "  Go  to  Rome ;  betake 
thyself  to  the  city  which  hath  dominion  over  all  nations,  and 
there  lay  down  thy  net."  4  So,  in  the  hands  of  rabbis,  fathers, 
popes,  and  schoolmen,  the  mystical  sense  became  the  solvent 
of  every  difficulty  of  interpretation.  History,  science,  facts, 
chronology,  uncertainties  of  text  and  renderings,  had  no  place 
where  language  was  chiefly  allegory.  The  traditional  opinions 
about  the  inspiration  and  infallibility  of  the  Bible  were  the 
only  ones.  What  the  rabbis  and  fathers  had  thought,  what 
the  pope  thought,  was  quite  enough  for  the  inquiring  spirit. 
Gregory  the  Great,  in  the  latter  half  of  the  sixth  century, 
spoke  of  the  writers  of  Scripture  as  "pens  of  the  triune 
God."  5  He  was  followed  by  many  others.  Bonaventura,  in 
the  thirteenth  century, 'in  overpowering  Latin  eloquence,  pays 
tribute  to  the  Bible  thus  :  "  Its  altitude  is  unattainable  because 
of  its  inviolable  authority ;  its  plenitude  inexhaustible  because 
of  its  inscrutable  profundity ;  its  certitude  infallible  because  of 

1  Bamp.  Lee,  1885,  p.  143  (quoted). 

2  Horn,  in  Gen.,  13,  §3. 

3  Bamp.  Lee.,  1885,  p.  275. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  298  (quoted).  5  Ibid.,  p.  287. 


1 8  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

its  irrefutable  progress ;  its  value  inappreciable  because  of  its 
inestimable  fruit ;  its  pulchritude  incontaminable  because  of  its 
impermixtible  purity."  :  Nicholas  of  Lyra,  in  the  fourteenth 
century,  "repeats  the  phrase  that  God  is  the  auctor principalis 
of  Scripture."2  "The  faculties  of  Louvain  and  Douai  called 
it  '  an  intolerable  and  great  blasphemy '  to  say  that  there  was 
an  otiose  word  in  Scripture.  '  Every  phrase,  syllable,  tittle, 
and  point  is  full  of  a  divine  sense.' "  3 

The  idea  of  all  this  period  was  clearly  the  traditional  idea 
of  Inspiration.  "  It  was  confused  with  verbal  dictation,  and 
the  Bible  was  turned  into  an  amulet  or  fetish  with  which  '  the 
church '  could  do  as  it  liked.  The  result  was  '  to  nullify  the 
use  of  Scripture  as  a  record  of  the  divine  dealings  with  the 
successive  generations  of  mankind.  The  voice  of  God  was 
no  longer  heard  as  it  spoke  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  man- 
ners to  holy  men  of  old,  but  simply  as  uttering  the  hallowed 
symbols  of  an  oracular  wisdom.,  The  whole  of  Scripture  was 
treated  as  one  contemporaneous  production,  of  which  the 
several  parts  might  be  expounded  without  reference  to  the 
circumstances  in  which  each  was  delivered.'  And  thus  the 
Bible  was  degraded  to  the  level  of  the  Koran,  and  the  piety 
of  the  schoolmen  became  a  superstition,  transubstantiating  the 
Word  of  God  into  the  verbal  elements  by  which  it  was  signi- 
fied."4 

5.  But  Scholasticism  had  taught  men  to  think.  It  was  a 
light  shining  in  a  dark  place.  When  Charlemagne  decreed 
that  every  abbey  in  his  realm  should  have  a  school  he  kindled 
the  torches  of  knowledge  throughout  the  land.  And  when 
the  years  passed  on,  and  out  of  the  schools  arose  the  scholars, 
or  schoolmen,  learning  and  philosophy  and  the  habit  of 
thought  revived.  Scholasticism  was  imperfect.  It  did  not 
strip  away  the  night  of  the  dark  ages,  but  it  penetrated  its 
gloom.     It  did  not  destroy  superstition,  but  it  kindled  a  flame 

l  Bamp.  Lee,  1885,  p.  273.  2  Hist.  Interp.,  Farrar,  p.  276. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  294. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  283;   Hampden,  Bamp.  Lee,  pp.  88-92. 


II  IS    COURTIERS.  ly 

that  grew  into  the  Renaissance  and  the  Reformation,  until  the 
light  was  like  the  coming  of  the  sun  in  its  splendor. 

Following  scholasticism,  and  stirred  into  activity  by  its 
leaven,  came  the  mental  and  spiritual  forces  which  overthrew 
the  despotism  of  church  and  empire.  The  feudal  system  was 
weakened ;  paper  was  invented,  and  the  mariners'  compass, 
and  gunpowder,  and  the  art  of  printing ;  the  ocean  was  ex- 
plored and  continents  discovered;  and  Copernicus,  revelling 
in  the  stars,  emblazoned  the  world  with  the  shining  truth  of 
their  systems. 

And  following  the  Renaissance  came  the  Reformation; 
another  thing  not  perfect,  even  as  there  are  spots  on  the  sun ; 
but  the  most  brilliant  achievement  of  modern  history,  the 
pledge  and  guaranty  of  spiritual  liberty  for  future  generations. 
The  Reformation  was  not  the  final  development  of  doctrine. 
It  was  not  a  personality,  invested  with  supreme  authority  in 
matters  of  faith  and  worship.  It  has  not  closed  the  cycles  of 
Christian  thought.  But  it  broke  the  power  of  the  great  his- 
toric superstition.  It  bound  the  papacy  to  a  narrower  do- 
minion, and  disabled  it  forever.  For  the  tide  of  history  does 
not  set  again  into  the  currents  of  the  past.  An  effete  heresy 
can  never  be  completely  rehabilitated.  An  ancient  peculiarity 
can  never  anachronize  the  future  and  again  become  the  prime 
characteristic  of  organic  Christianity. 

The  Reformation  raised  its  illustrious  revolt  against  the 
authority  of  the  Roman  hierarchy.  The  voice  of  the  pope 
had  been  the  final  answer  to  questions  controverted.  The 
people,  craving  certainty  about  eternal  issues,  had  found  it  in 
the  papal  decrees.  But  when  they  threw  off  their  allegiance 
to  the  pope  certainty  was  gone,  unless  another  infallible 
authority  was  found.  Where  could  it  be  but  in  the  Bible  ? 
Hence  the  famous  saying  of  an  English  theologian :  "  The 
Bible,  and  the  Bible  only,  is  the  religion  of  Protestants." 
That  sentiment  had  sprung  up  in  the  hearts  of  many — in 
France,  Germany,  Switzerland,  England — before  it  was  coined 
into  those  famous  words.     Hitherto  the  Bible  was  thought  to 


20  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

be  inspired  because  such  was  the  universal  tradition.  Jews 
and  Christians,  rabbis  and  fathers,  bishops  and  schoolmen, 
had  believed  it  to  be  inspired.  Now  there  was  an  exigency 
demanding  inspiration.  With  past  authority  stripped  away, 
the  Bible  was  the  only  refuge.  It  must  be  the  voice  of  God. 
It  must  have  been  delivered  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  At  this 
time,  also,  the  revival  of  learning  had  made  it  plain  that  the 
allegorical  interpretation  was  untenable.  It  could  not  explain 
discrepancies  and  answer  questions  by  lifting  them  above  the 
vulgar  letter  into  the  serene,  ineffable  heaven  of  the  mystical 
sense.  And  as  allegory  and  the  pope  went  hand  in  hand 
down  into  the  darkness  of  an  innocent  disuse,  the  inspired 
Bible,  in  a  more  rational  and  human  sense,  simply  answering 
the  bombardment  of  interrogation,  became  the  supreme  dic- 
tator to  the  Protestant  multitudes. 

Luther,  the  most  powerful  personality  among  reformers, 
the  man  who  gave  the  German  people  the  German  Bible,  re- 
ferring to  the  composition  of  the  Scriptures,  says:  "The  Holy 
Ghost  is  the  all-simplest  writer  that  is  in  heaven  or  earth."  1 
Again,  he  says  that  "  one  letter,  yea  a  single  tittle  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, is  of  more  or  greater  consequence  than  heaven  or  earth." 2 

Calvin,  the  founder  of  modern  Presbyterian  theology,  "  like 
all  the  Reformers,  speaks  incessantly  of  the  supreme  and  final 
authority  of  the  Scriptures,"  and  seems  to  have  "held  that 
Scripture  flowed  from  the  very  mouth  of  God."3  "When 
Rene,  Duchess  of  Ferrara,  daughter  of  Louis  XII. ,  had  in  a 
letter  made  the  wise  remark  that  David's  example  in  hating 
his  enemies  was  not  applicable  to  us,  Calvin  curtly  and  sternly 
answered  that  '  such  a  gloss  would  upset  all  Scripture ' ;  that 
even  in  his  hatred  David  is  an  example  to  us  and  a  type  of 
Christ,  and  '  should  we  presume  to  set  up  ourselves  as  superior 
to  Christ  in  sweetness  and  humanity  ?  '  "  4 

1  Answer  to  Emser  (see  Kostlin,  Luther's  Theol.,  ii.,  284). 

2  Luther  on  Heb.  ii.  13 ;  Gal.  iv.  22. 

3  Hist.  Interp.,  Farrar,  p.  349;  Calvin,  Instit.,  i.,  7,  §5. 

4  Hist.  Interp.,  p.  350. 


BIS    COURTIERS.  2l 

It  came  to  be  common  for  the  writers  of  the  sacred  books 
to  be  spoken  of  as  "amanuenses  of  God,"  "hands  of  God," 
"scribes  and  notaries  of  the  Holy  Spirit,"  "secretaries,  pens, 
reeds,  harps,  flutes,  writing-tablets."  The  Bible  was  spoken  of 
as  "a  divine  effluence,"  "a  part  of  God."  One  writer  se- 
dately argued  the  question  whether  the  Scripture  could  be 
called  a  creature,  and  concluded  that  it  could  not.  So  com- 
plete was  the  indwelling  of  the  Spirit  in  the  Scriptures  that  a 
wicked  person,  if  orthodox,  was  said  to  be  illuminated  by  the 
reading  of  them  ex  opere  operato.  Quenstedt,  Hollaz,  Calov, 
and  the  Wittenberg  faculty,  in  1638,  decreed  that  to  speak  of 
barbarisms  and  solecisms  in  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament 
would  be  a  blasphemy  against  the  writers  and  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Hebraisms  in  the  New  Testament  were  the  desire  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  make  the  style  of  the  New  Testament  like  that  of  the 
Old.  Hellenistic  Greek  was  Holy  Greek,  a  form  of  speech 
peculiar  to  God.  The  Formula  Consensus  Helvetica  declared 
that  the  very  vowel-points  and  accents  of  the  Hebrew  Bible 
were  all  inspired.  The  Holy  Spirit  was  said  to  have  abdicated 
his  agency  to  the  written  Word.  "  It  is  impious  and  profane 
audacity,"  said  Calovius,  "  to  change  a  single  point  in  the 
Word  of  God,  and  to  substitute  a  smooth  breathing  for  a 
rough  or  a  rough  for  a  smooth."  1 

That  such  ideas  as  these — the  main  sentiment  of  lofty  rev- 
erence for  the  Bible  as  of  divine  authority — found  many  an 
echo  in  the  subsequent  theology  of  the  Continent,  and  of 
England  and  America,  and  have  become  the  "popular"  doc- 
trine of  the  present  day,  is  most  certain.  But  that  some  of 
the  reformers,  as  well  as  some  of  the  rabbis,  fathers,  and 
schoolmen,  expressed  themselves  at  times  in  language  that 
seems  the  very  contradiction  of  their  language  elsewhere,  is 
strangely  true. 

The  height  of  doctrine  on  the  subject  of  Inspiration  is 
reached  in  the  belief  that  not  only  the  Hebrew  text,  but  also 
the  vowel-points  and  accents  were  inspired.      The  Hebrew 

1  Hist.  Interp.,  pp.  374,  375. 


22  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

language  is  one  without  vowels ;  it  has  only  consonants. 
Vowel-points  are  inventions  subsequent  to  the  formation  of 
the  language.  They  were  invented  as  substitutes  for  vowels, 
and  used  originally  for  the  benefit  of  foreign  students  of  that 
tongue.  They  are  composed  of  certain  dots  and  dashes,  and 
combinations  of  them,  and  are  placed,  as  the  case  may  be, 
above,  within,  or  under  the  consonants,  and  are  used  for  Jixing 
the  text,  so  that  there  can  be  no  variation  in  the  translation. 
The  letters  kl,  for  example,  might  be  written  for  kol,  a  voice, 
or  for  kal,  a  runner ;  klh  for  kahih,  to  collect,  or  kalah,  to 
burn.  The  vowel-points  determine  the  word,  establish  the 
text.  The  work  of  placing  the  vowel-points  and  accents  was 
done  by  a  body  of  men  known  as  the  Masorites.  The  name 
comes  from  the  Hebrew  masar,  which  means  "  to  deliver," 
and  signifies  the  delivering  or  handing  down  of  tradition. 
Thus  the  traditional  reading  of  the  Hebrew  text  of  the  Bible, 
the  sound  and  meaning  of  the  words,  first  transmitted  from 
mouth  to  mouth  by  rabbi  after  rabbi,  was  finally  thrown  into 
lasting  form  by  the  placing  of  the  vowel-points  and  accents ; 
and  the  result  is  known  as  the  Masora.  But  the  vowel-points 
were  not  of  Hebrew  origin.  The  system  of  pointing  the 
Shemitic  languages  is  said  to  have  begun  in  the  Syrian  school 
of  Edessa,  and  was  first  used  in  the  Syriac  text  of  the  Scrip- 
tures. From  that  it  passed  over  first  into  the  Arabic  text  and 
then  into  the  Hebrew.  The  system  was  not  invented  com- 
plete, as  we  have  it,  but  grew.  It  did  not  reach  its  present 
condition  till  the  seventh  century  a.d.,  at  Babylon,  and  the 
middle  of  the  eighth  century,  in  Palestine,  and  its  full  develop- 
ment was  reached  by  successive  steps  that  we  cannot  trace. 
It  was  invented  a  thousand  years  after  the  writing  of  the 
Hebrew  Bible,  and  was  applied  to  a  Hebrew  text  "hardly 
later  than  the  first  Christian  century."  1  Of  this  system  it  is  a 
common  opinion  among  the  Jews  that  it  came  by  divine  reve- 

l  Biblical    Study,  C.  A.   Briggs,    D.D.,   p.    152;  and    Professor   W. 
Robertson  Smith,  Encyc.  Brit.,  art.  Hebrew,  vol.  xi.,  p.  600. 


HIS    COURTIERS.  23 

lation  to  the  first  member  of  the  human  family,  "  As  to  the 
origin  and  development  of  the  vowels,"  says  Azzariah  de 
Rossi,  a  Jewish  scholar,  as  quoted  by  Dr.  Ginsberg,  "  their 
force  and  virtue  were  invented  by,  or  communicated  to,  Adam 
in  Paradise  ;  transmitted  to  and  by  M oses  ;  that  they  had  been 
partially  forgotten,  and  their  pronunciation  vitiated  during  the 
Babylonian  captivity ;  that  they  had  been  restored  by  Ezra, 
but  that  they  had  been  forgotten  again  in  the  wars  and  strug- 
gles during  and  after  the  destruction  of  the  second  temple ; 
and  that  the  Masorites,  after  the  close  of  the  Talmud,  revised 
the  system  and  permanently  fixed  the  pronunciation  by  the 
contrivance  of  the  present  signs."  l  The  theory  of  the  in- 
spiration of  these  points  was  maintained  by  such  scholars  as 
the  Buxtorffs,  Heidegger,  Turretine,  Voetius,  and  Owen,  as 
well  as  by  the  Zurich  Consensus.2 

6.  So  far  the  stream  of  opinion  was  practically  unbroken, 
and  of  one  tendency.  There  were  slight  divergencies  here 
and  there  in  the  nature  of  back-water  and  estuaries.  Now 
and  again  a  gust  of  enthusiasm  would  strike  the  surface  of  the 
stream  in  spots  and  lift  the  water  in  a  spray  as  fine  as  the 
vowel-points  and  accents,  attenuated  and  dampening  as  the 
mist  that  gathers  in  the  shadows  of  the  evening.  And  the 
waters  were  generally  muddy.  Christian  opinion  thought 
that  somehow  the  book  came  from  God,  and  struggled  to 
show  the  manner  of  its  coming  and  the  nature  of  its  divinity. 
It  was  not  content  to  leave  these  matters  where  eternal  Provi- 
dence had  left  them.  For  man  is  vastly  more  particular  than 
God.  The  one  thing  for  which  he  longs,  in  doctrine,  is  defini- 
tion. He  would  drive  the  abounding  and  pervading  truth  of 
God  into  an  acute  angle.  He  would  trace  it  with  a  line  of 
geometric  straightness,  and  indicate  it  with  the  point  of  a 
needle,  and  settle  it  everlastingly  upon  a  punctuation  period. 
So,  by  individuals,  the  historic  opinions  about  Inspiration  have 

1  Biblical  Study,  Briggs,  p.  141  ;  De  Rossi,  The  Light  of  the  Eyes,  iii., 
59,  1574-75;   Ginsberg,  Life  of  Levita,  in  Levitas  Massoreth,  p.  53. 

2  Biblical  Study,  Briggs,  p.  156;   Hist.  Interp.,  Farrar,  p.  388. 


24  THE  BREATH  OE  GOD. 

been  reduced  to  definitions  and  adorned  with  technical  names. 
They  have  given  us  the  mechanical  theory,  by  which  the 
writers  were  mere  machines — passive  instruments ;  "  pens," 
and  God  wrote;  u lyres,"  and  God  touched  the  strings  and 
evoked  the  harmony.  The  verbal  theory,  by  which  the  writers 
were  not  authors,  but  "  amanuenses."  God  dictated,  and  they 
wrote ;  and  every  word  and  syllable  became  divine.  The  dy- 
namicalr  theory,  which  declares  that  the  divine  power  wrought 
in  the  soul  of  the  sacred  author.  The  human  faculties  were 
all  alive  and  energetic,  but  God  lifted  the  soul  into  His  own 
atmosphere.  It  saw  His  thoughts,  and  gathered  His  feelings, 
and  made  a  record  of  them  in  the  book.  The  plenary  theory, 
which  makes  the  inspired  person  "  incapable  of  uttering  or 
communicating  any  error  with  the  inspired  message."  The 
inductive  or  critical  theory,  or  theory  of  selection,  which  are 
practically  one,  and  which  affirm  that  the  Scripture  writers 
were  inspired  at  times,  and  on  occasion,  to  teach  the  eternal 
truths  of  God  necessary  to  the  soul's  salvation  and  "  instruc- 
tion in  righteousness."  They  have  all  had  their  advocates, 
zealous  and  enthusiastic,  and  have  all  proved  more  or  less 
unsatisfactory  to  the  remainder  of  Christendom.  The  voices 
of  men  are  evidently  not  superior  to  the  voice  of  God,  nor  to 
His  silence.  They  cannot  prevail,  even  with  their  fellows. 
And  so  the  definitions  have  been  various,  and  changing  opin- 
ion has  changed  them  and  invented  newer  phraseology.  -At 
this  particular  point  in  history  their  number  has  been  reduced 
and  the  outlook  simplified.  Modern  scholarship  has  fused 
into  one  the  definitions  of  the  past,  and  given  it  the  title  of 
the  traditional  theory,  while  holding  to  the  term  inductive  for 
its  own.  The  traditional  theory,  broadly  speaking,  may  be 
said  to  be  "  that  the  Bible  as  a  whole  and  in  all  its  parts  is  the 
Word  of  God,  and  as  such  endowed  with  all  the  perfections 
of  that  Word."  1  It  is  that  which  has  grown  up,  as  it  were, 
out  of  the  ages,  until  now.  It  never  had  a  formal  birth,  and 
its  majority  was  never  announced ;  and  yet  it  is  here  among 

1  Inspiration,  Sanday,  p.  392. 


HIS    COURTIERS.  25 

us,  and  has  been  everywhere  in  Christendom.  The  inductive 
theory  has  taken  form  within  the  last  half-century,  among  the 
representatives  of  the  latest  biblical  study  and  criticism.  It  is 
held  by  the  leading  scholars  of  the  age.  It  has  been  spread- 
ing rapidly  in  popular  belief,  and  it  threatens  to  become  the 
one  great  theory  of  the  future. 

And  these  are  the  two  great  contestants  engaged  in  mortal 
combat  upon  the  field  of  modern  controversy.  On  either  side 
the  colors  are  flung  to  the  breeze,  the  trumpets  have  sounded, 
and  the  heralds  cry  aloud. 

Professor  Gaussen  says :  "  The  Scriptures  are  given  and 
guaranteed  by  God  even  in  their  very  language.  They  con- 
tain no  error;  they  say  all  that  they  ought  to  say,  and  only 
what  they  ought  to  say."  Dean  Burgon  says  :  "  The  Bible  is 
none  other  than  the  voice  of  Him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne. 
Every  book  of  it,  every  chapter  of  it,  every  verse  of  it,  every 
word  of  it,  every  syllable  of  it,  every  letter  of  it,  is  the  direct 
utterance  of  the  Most  High — supreme,  absolute,  faultless,  un- 
erring." l  Dr.  Charles  Hodge  says :  "  Protestants  hold  that 
the  Scriptures  .  .  .  are  the  Word  of  God,  written  under  the 
inspiration  of  God  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  are  therefore  infalli- 
ble, and  consequently  free  from  all  error,  whether  of  doctrine, 
of  fact,  or  of  precept."2  Again:  "All  the  books  of  Scripture 
are  equally  inspired.  All  alike  are  infallible  in  what  they 
teach."  3  But,  on  the  other  hand,  Tholuck  says  that  this  doc- 
trine of  Scripture  being  infallible,  not  only  in  its  religious,  but 
in  its  entire  contents,  and  also  in  its  form,  arose  not  earlier 
than  the  seventeenth  century.4  Professor  Sanday  speaks,  in 
effect,  of  how  God  "  selected  "  one  particular  stock  of  man- 
kind to  receive  a  clearer  revelation,  and  out  of  that  stock 
"selected"  individuals,  and  then  "selected"  times  in  which 
and  subjects  on  which  to  move  "  their  hearts  and  minds  .  .  . 

1  How  God  Inspired  the  Bible,  Smyth,  p.  108. 

2  Theology,  Hodge,  vol.  i.,  p.  152. 

3  Ibid.,  p.  163. 

4  Doctrine  of  Inspiration,  Tholuck,  Jour.  Sac.  Lit.,  vi.,  331-369. 


26  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

in  a  manner  more  penetrating  and  more  effective  than  their 
fellows,  with  the  result  that  their  written  words  convey  to  us 
truth  about  the  nature  of  God  and  his  dealings  with  man 
which  other  writings  do  not  convey  with  equal  fulness,  power, 
and  purity.  We  say  that  this  special  moving  is  due  to  the  action 
upon  those  hearts  and  minds  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  And  we  call 
that  action  Inspiration."1  Archdeacon  Farrar  says:2  "In- 
spiration .  .  .  does  not  imply  an  exclusive  theopneustia*  for 
the  sacred  writers,"  but  "  meant  the  influence  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  of  God  revealing  himself  in  every  great  thought  and 
utterance  of  the  soul  of  man ;  given  in  the  bestowal  of  '  every 
good  and  perfect  gift.'  " 

Thirty  centuries  of  opinion,  and  no  conclusion  !  Nineteen 
centuries  of  Christian  thought,  and  yet  no  dogma  !  Jew  and 
Christian  in  all  these  ages  uniting  in  the  main  idea,  believing 
in  the  fact  of  Inspiration,  yet  never  agreeing  on  a  definition  of 
its  nature.  Surely  the  individual  of  to-day  may  be  pardoned 
if  he  is  not  wise  above  the  Universal  Church  of  God  in  the 
whole  period  of  its  life. 

1  Inspiration,  Sanday,  p.  127  (italics  mine). 

2  Hist.  Interp.,  p.  370. 

*  This  Greek  word  means  an  in-breathing-of-God. 


III. 


HIS  CRITICS. 

"  For  what  am  I  ? 
What  profits  me  my  name 
Of  greatest  knight  ?  " 

BUT  out  of  the  natural  human  faculty ;  out  of  the  reason 
which  is  divine  ;  out  of  the  toil  and  patience  and  skill  and 
learning  of  centuries  ;  out  of  scholasticism  and  the  Renaissance 
and  the  Reformation ;  under  the  benign  providence  of  God, 
the  great  search-light  of  investigation  has  been  turned  upon 
the  question  of  Inspiration.  Near  to  the  city  of  God,  in  the 
great  harbor  of  rising  and  ebbing  tides,  among  the  shifting 
currents  and  the  whirling  eddies  of  speculation,  stands  the 
colossal  figure  of  the  Higher  Criticism,  as  "  Liberty,  enlight- 
ening the  world." 

The  Bartholdi  Statue  in  New  York  harbor  is  not,  of  course, 
the  source  of  the  universal  light,  nor  is  liberty  itself  the  one 
light  of  the  world.  But  the  colossus  sends  forth  a  flood  of 
illumination  over  the  dark  waters  of  the  bay,  and  criticism 
sheds  its  penetrating  rays  into  the  realms  of  biblical  study. 

Criticism  means  judgment,  discrimination.  In  a  literary 
sense  it  is  an  estimate  of  the  complete  value  of  a  book.  In 
dealing  with  the  Bible  it  has  two  planes  of  action  clearly 
marked.  The  lower  plane,  intellectually  speaking,  is  that  of 
the  Hebrew  and  Greek  text.  The  Lower  Criticism,  therefore, 
deals  with  that.  It  compares  manuscripts,  traces  their  his- 
tory, seeks  to  ascertain  what  is  the  very  language,  what  are 
the  very  words,  originally  written  in  the  Scriptures.  It  strives 
after  the  absolute  purity  of  the  text.     The  higher  plane  of 

27 


28  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

judgment  or  discrimination  is  that  of  the  origin,  literary  forms, 
and  contents  of  the  Bible.  The  Higher  Criticism,  therefore, 
deals  with  the  individual  writings  and  groups  of  writings.  It 
seeks  to  ascertain  the  authorship  of  the  various  books  or  parts 
of  books,  the  times  when  they  were  written,  the  historical  set- 
tings or  circumstances,  and  the  purpose  of  the  writings,  their 
relation  to  other  writings  of  their  groups,  and  to  the  whole 
collection.  The  Higher  Criticism  investigates  the  Bible  as 
any  other  book  might  be  investigated,  and  seeks  to  discover 
the  value  of  each  and  all  its  utterances.  It  inquires  whether 
the  Bible  is  true  in  its  history,  science,  geography,  chronol- 
ogy. It  takes  all  attainable  testimony,  external  and  internal 
— the  testimony  of  profane  history  and  that  of  the  writings 
themselves.  It  studies  their  language,  literary  style  and  form, 
drift  of  thought,,  and  handling  of  matters  of  secular  learning 
and  observation. 

It  is  popularly  supposed  that  the  Higher  Criticism  is  a 
"new  thing  under  the  sun."  And  while  this  is  true  as  to  its 
recent  prominence  and  power,  it  is  true  only  so  far.  Critical 
thought  has  had  its  representatives  from  time  to  time,  at  least 
since  the  second  century  before  the  Christian  era.  Acute 
thinkers  and  scholars  have  ever  found  food  for  question  about 
the  infallibility  of  the  Bible  in  all  its  contents. 

i.  Aristobulus,  the  Alexandrian  philosopher,  the  inventor  of 
the  allegorical  method  of  interpretation,  was  the  first  to  take 
away  from  the  divinity  of  the  letter.  He  was  the  first  to  start 
"  the  great  religious  problem — the  discovery,  if  possible,  of  a 
test  by  which  we  may  discern  what  are  the  eternal  and  irre- 
pealable  truths  of  the  Bible,  what  the  imaginative  vesture,  the 
framework,  in  which  those  truths  are  set  forth  in  the  Hebrew 
and  even  in  the  Christian  Scriptures."  1 

2.  The  rabbins,  without  critical  intent,  followed  in  his  foot- 
steps. With  all  their  worship  of  words  and  letters,  they  fre- 
quently set  them  aside  for  the  sake  of  the  mystical  sense. 
They  practised  evasions  of  the  law.     For  example,  the  law 

Milman's  Annals  of  St.  Paul's,  p.  467. 


HIS   CRITICS.  29 

said  :  "  At  the  end  of  every  seventh  year  .  .  .  every  creditor 
that  lendeth  unto  his  neighbor  shall  release  it."  l  Hillel  nulli- 
fied it  by  allowing  the  creditor  a  written  contract  by  which  he 
might  claim  the  debt  at  any  future  time.  Hillel  "  did  it,"  says 
the  Talmud,  "for  the  good  order  of  the  world."2 

3.  Very  strangely,  but  very  clearly,  the  Septuagint  bears 
testimony  in  the  same  line.  It  was  to  the  Jewish  people 
largely,  and  to  the  Christian  fathers  altogether,  what  King 
James's  version  is  to  us — a  translation  of  the  Bible  in  the 
popular  tongue,  in  constant  and  general  use.  Yet  it  differs 
immensely,  in  words,  passages,  and  entire  books,  from  the 
Hebrew  Bible.  If,  in  the  general  estimation,  the  text  of  the 
Hebrew  was  literally  divine,  this  tremendous  divergence  could 
never  have  been  allowed. 

And  the  New  Testament  adds  a  weightier  testimony.  It 
quotes  the  Old  Testament  repeatedly,  but  often  in  a  marvel- 
lously liberal  way.  Not  words,  but  sentiments,  seem  to  be  its 
object.  If  the  words  were  inspired  they  only  could  have 
given  the  sentiment.  It  seems  to  say  that  while  the  thought 
was  divine  the  language  was  human. 

Moreover,  the  Messianic  idea  is  the  most  conspicuous  fea- 
ture of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  and  yet  Hillel,  one  of  the  very 
greatest  of  Jewish  doctors,  "declared  that  no  such  Messiah 
would  ever  come  ;" 3  and  Joseph  Albo,  a  mediaeval  theologian, 
denies  that  the  doctrine  of  the  Messiah  is  a  Jewish  dogma.4 
They  could  not  have  valued  the  very  text. 

Besides  this,  the  Talmud  was  made  practically  greater  than 
the  Bible,  the  rabbins  higher  authority  than  Moses,  as  Christ 
testified :  "  Ye  made  the  commandment  of  God  of  none  effect 
by  your  tradition,"  5  "  teaching  for  doctrines  the  command- 
ments of  men  ;"  6  "  and  many  such  like  things  do  ye."  7  "  The 
voice  of  the  Rabbi  is  as  the  voice  of  God,"  said  the  Scribes. 
"  He  who  only  studies  the  Scriptures  is  but  an  empty  cistern." 

1  Dent.  xv.   1,  2.  2  Hist.  Interp.,  Farrar,  p.  64. 

3  Sanhedrin,  f.  96,  2.  4  Hist.  Interp.,  p.  67. 

5  Matt.  xv.  6.  6  Mark  vii.  7.  1  Mark  vii.  13. 


30  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

"  Words  of  Scribes,"  said  Rabbi  Johanan,  "  are  akin  to  words 
of  the  Law,  and  more  beloved."  x  How  could  it  have  been 
so  if  Moses  and  the  Bible  were  thought  to  be  inspired  above 
all  others  ? 

4.  The  Christian  fathers,  with  all  their  lustre  of  piety  and 
fame,  were  often  highly  critical,  in  spite  of  their  burning  words 
of  homage  for  the  Scriptures.  Canon  Farrar  says,  of  verbal 
dictation,  that  few  if  any  of  them  "had  any  clear  and  fixed 
conception  of  the  subject."  Tholuck  says  that  the  ancient 
church  held  the  language  of  the  Bible  to  be  human,  and  as- 
cribed to  it  "contradictions  in  words  and  facts."2  Farrar 
says  that  in  Justin  Martyr,  Irenseus,  Tertullian,  Origen,  Je- 
rome, Chrysostom,  and  Augustine  many  passages  "  freely 
admit  the  human  element,"  and  "  even  attribute  immorality 
and  impropriety  to  many  passages  taken  literally."  3  Justin, 
while  believing  in  verbal  dictation,  "quotes  the  Sibyl  and 
Hystaspes  as  genuine  books."  Tertullian  thought  that  the 
apostles  sometimes  spoke  only  for  themselves,  as  St.  Paul,  who 
said,  "To  the  rest  speak  I,  not  the  Lord."  Origen  thought 
the  drunkenness  of  Noah,  the  incest  of  Lot,  the  rape  of  Tamar 
repulsively  unprofitable  reading;  the  law  against  eating  vul- 
tures absurd.  He  said  that  there  were  enough  discrepancies  in 
the  Gospels  "to  make  one  dizzy."  Jerome  thinks  St.  Mark, 
in  chapter  ii.,  verse  26,  wrote  Abiathar  in  mistake  for  Abime- 
lech ;  the  chronology  of  the  Bible  hopeless ;  St.  Paul  guilty  of 
barbarisms,  trivialities,  poor  proofs,  bad  taste,  emotional  pas- 
sion. Chrysostom  says :  "  Do  not  ask  how  these  Old  Testa- 
ment precepts  can  be  good  now,  when  the  need  for  them  is 
past.  .  .  .  Their  highest  praise  is  that  we  now  see  them  to 
be  defective."  Basil,  speaking  of  the  precepts  of  the  law, 
says:  "We  pass  from  these  to  wisdom  hidden  in  mystery."4 

1  Quoted  by  Farrar,  pp.  62,  63. 

2  Bamp.  Lee,  Farrar,  p.  264. 

3  Ibid.,  pp.  230,  172. 

4  See  How  God  Inspired  the  Bible,  pp.  75  ff. ;  and  Hist.  Interp.,  pp. 
230  ff. 


HIS   CRITICS.  31 

5.  Among  the  schoolmen  the  difficulties  that  confronted 
the  critical  judgment  were  met  by  a  theory  of  direct  and  in- 
direct Inspiration.  The  direct  was  ascribed  to  those  parts  of 
the  Bible  which  deal  with  doctrine.  The  passages  which  deal 
with  history,  chronology,  or  any  matter  of  profane  learning, 
were  considered  as  indirectly  inspired.  Abelard  said  :  "  It  is 
acknowledged  that  even  prophets  and  apostles  were  not  wholly 
free  from  error,"  1  and  pointed  out  various  discrepancies  in  the 
Gospels.  Erigena  said :  "  Let  no  authority  terrify  you  from 
conclusions  which  the  reasonable  persuasion  of  right  contem- 
plation teaches."  2  Nicholas  of  Lyra  insists  upon  the  value  of 
grammar,  and  care  for  the  purity  of  manuscripts.3 

Erasmus,  in  the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century,  is  said 
to  be  the  chief  founder  of  modern  textual  and  biblical  criti- 
cism. He  denied  the  inspiration  of  the  Book  of  Revelation. 
He  was  one  of  the  first  to  declare  the  spuriousness  of  the  pas- 
sage in  I.  John  v.  7,  about  the  three  heavenly  witnesses.  He 
denied  infallibility  anywhere  but  in  Christ,  saying :  "  Christ 
alone  is  called  the  Truth.  He  alone  was  free  from  all  error." 
Luther,  the  apostle  of  the  German  Reformation,  was  abun- 
dantly free  in  criticisms.  He  rejected  the  Epistle  of  James, 
and  denied  the  inspiration  of  the  Epistle  of  Jude  and  the 
Book  of  Revelation.  He  said  that  the  contents  of  the  Bible 
had  in  them  "  wood,  hay,  stubble " ;  distinguished  between 
the  "  Scriptures  "  and  the  "  Word  of  God  "  ;  denied  that  Solo- 
mon wrote  the  Song  of  Songs  or  Ecclesiastes ;  showed  the 
arrangement  of  the  Book  of  Jeremiah  to  be  unchronological ; 
and  made  a  variety  of  other  criticisms.  Denck  said :  "  I  es- 
teem the  Holy  Scriptures  above  all  human  treasures ;  but  not 
s<»  highly  as  the  Word  of  God,  .  .  .  written  without  pen  or 
paper."  Calvin  points  out  the  quotation  in  Matthew  xxvii.  9, 
as  from  Jeremiah,  as  a  mistake,  and  calls  attention  to  other 
inaccuracies;  says  that  the  "seed  of  the  woman,"  in  Genesis 
iii.  15,  meant  originally  "posterity,"  not  Christ.      He  antici- 

1   Sic  ct  N011,  Prol.  2  De  Div.  Nat.,  i.,  66. 

3  Bamp.  Lee.,  1-SS5,  pp.  274,  275. 


32  THE   BREATH  OF   GOD. 

pated  modern  criticism  by  interpreting  the  Messianic  prophe- 
cies as  referring  primarily  to  events  of  their  own  days,  and 
says  that  the  idea  that  God  made  a  throne  of  the  mercy-seat 
was  a  "  crass  figment,"  deceiving  even  David  and  Hezekiah. 
Richard  Hooker  pleads  against  "  attributing  to  Scripture  more 
than  it  can  have."  Richard  Baxter,  on  the  same  subject, 
says :  "  It  is  the  devil's  last  method  to  undo  by  overdoing,  and 
so  to  destroy  the  authority  of  the  apostles  by  overmagnifying." 

6.  In  1679  Spinoza,  the  philosopher,  published  his  "Trac- 
tatus  Theologico-Politicus,"  in  which  he  attacked  the  Mosaic 
authorship  of  the  Pentateuch.  It  showed,  he  said,  marks  of  a 
later  date  than  Moses.  As  to  names  of  places,  Dan,  so  called 
in  Genesis,  was  not  then  called  Dan,  but  Laish.1  The  his- 
tory was  continued  beyond  the  days  of  Moses.  Mention  is 
made  in  Exodus  of  stoppage  of  manna,  which  in  Joshua  is 
said  to  have  stopped  after  the  entrance  into  Canaan.2  The 
expression  in  Genesis  xxxvi.  31,  "  before  there  reigned  any 
king  over  the  children  of  Israel,"  implies  that  the  writer  lived 
after  the  establishment  of  the  monarchy.  Spinoza  thought 
that  Moses  taught  the  elders,  and  that  they  wrote  the  com- 
mandments ;  that  later  they  were  collected  and  ascribed  to 
suitable  periods  in  Moses'  life ;  that  the  present  form  of  the 
Pentateuch  was  due  to  Ezra.  Richard  Simon,  a  Roman  Cath- 
olic, a  contemporary  of  Spinoza,  thought  that  the  laws  of  the 
Pentateuch  were  by  Moses,  and  the  history  by  the  public 
scribe ;  and  that  Genesis  was  composed  of  earlier  documents. 

A  deeper  study  and  a  keener  critical  insight  were  shown,  in 
1 753,  by  Jean  Astruc,  a  Roman  Catholic  layman,  doctor  and 
professor  of  medicine  in  the  Royal  College  at  Paris,  and  court 
physician  to  Louis  XIV.  He  discovered  marked  traces  of 
two  separate  documents  in  the  Book  of  Genesis.  Two  ac- 
counts of  the  creation  and  two  of  the  flood  were  among  the 
indications.  The  documents  were  clearly  stamped  with  the 
literary  signs  of  different  authorship ;  as,  for  example,   one 

1  Gen.  xiv.  14;  Judg.  xviii.  29. 

2  Ex.  xvi.  35;  Josh.  v.  12. 


HIS  CRITICS.  33 

speaks  of  God  as  Elohim,  the  other  calls  him  Jehovah.  Astruc 
supposed  that  Moses,  in  his  composition,  used  the  earlier 
documents.  This  theory,  adopted  by  others,  was  called  the 
"  documentary  hypothesis."  Eichhorn,  in  1780,  combined  the 
various  results  of  previous  critical  effort  into  one  common 
method,  and  first  labelled  it  with  the  title  of  "  Higher  Criti- 
cism." 

Vater  and  Hartmann,  in  1 8 1 5  and  1 8 1 8,  went  further,  and 
supposed  the  Pentateuch  composed  of  a  number  of  fragments 
"  loosely  strung  together."  Laws  made  in  the  time  of  David 
and  Solomon  were  scattered  through  Deuteronomy.  The 
other  parts,  written  at  various  times,  were  collected  into  the 
present  form  sometime  between  the  reign  of  Josiah  and  the 
Babylonish  exile.  This  was  called  the  "  fragmentary  hypothe- 
sis." 

These,  it  is  said,  were  both  superseded  by  the  "  supple- 
mentary hypothesis,"  which  sees  two  documents  in  the  Penta- 
teuch— the  Elohist  being  the  older,  and  the  Jehovist,  the  later, 
using  the  Elohist  document  by  adding  to,  commenting  upon, 
and  sometimes  incorporating  in  his  own  work.  It  was  adopted, 
with  various  modifications,  by  De  Wette,  Bleek,  Stahelin,  Tuch, 
Lengerke,  Hupfeld,  Knobel,  Bunsen,  Kurtz,  Delitzsch,  Schultz, 
Vaihinger,  and  others.1 

De  Wette  sees  marks  of  the  two  documents  not  only  in 
Genesis,  but  in  the  first  four  books.  Lengerke  puts  the  Elo- 
hist in  the  period  of  Solomon  and  the  Jehovist  in  that  of 
Hezekiah.  Tuch  puts  the  first  under  Saul  and  the  other 
under  Solomon.  Stahelin  gives  the  Jehovist  to  the  time  of 
Saul  and  the  Elohist  to  that  of  Judges.  Hupfeld  finds  three 
authors — an  earlier  and  later  Elohist,  and  the  Jehovist.  De- 
litzsch thinks  that  Moses  wrote  the  Book  of  the  Covenant 
(Ex.  xix.-xxiv.)  and  Deuteronomy,  and  the  remainder  was 
written  by  Eleazar  the  priest,  Joshua,  and  the  elders. 

Ewald  discovers  seven  different  authors  in  the  Pentateuch 

1  See  Bishop  Perowne's  article,  Pentateuch,  in  Smith's  Bible  Diction- 
ary. 


34  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

and  Book  of  Joshua.  In  his  view  the  oldest  of  the  parts  con- 
sists of  a  few  fragments  from  the  Book  of  the  Wars  of  Jeho- 
vah ;  next,  parts  of  a  biography  of  Moses ;  then  the  Book  of 
the  Covenant,  written  in  the  time  of  Samson ;  the  Book  of 
Origines,  by  a  priest  in  Solomon's  time ;  the  work  of  the  third 
historian,  or  first  prophetic  narrator  of  primitive  days,  a  person 
in  the  northern  kingdom  in  the  time  of  Elijah  or  Joel;  the 
work  of  the  fourth  historian,  or  second  prophetic  narrator, 
about  800  or  750  b.c.  ;  the  work  of  the  fifth  historian,  or  third 
prophetic  narrator,  who  lived  shortly  after  Joel,  and  who  col- 
lected the  writings  of  his  predecessors  into  one  body  of  Scrip- 
ture. 

In  18 1 8  Home,  in  England,  issued  his  "Introduction  to 
the  Critical  Study  and  Knowledge  of  the  Holy  Scriptures," 
which  embraced  a  study  of  the  results  of  foreign  criticism. 
In  1840  Coleridge's  "  Confessions  of  an  Inquiring  Spirit"  ap- 
peared, with  scriptural  instances  against  the  traditional  doc- 
trine of  Inspiration.  In  1862  Colenso,  the  English  Bishop  of 
Natal,  startled  the  world  by  publishing  an  attack  on  the  histor- 
ical character  of  the  Pentateuch  and  Book  of  Joshua,  endea- 
voring to  show  that  the  parts  which  gave  the  most  numerous 
details  were  the  parts  most  difficult  to  believe.  About  the 
same  time  there  was  published  a  series  of  papers  by  "  Eminent 
Englishmen,"  under  the  title  of  "  Essays  and  Reviews,"  which 
breathed  the  spirit  of  the  Higher  Criticism. 

Since  that  time  the  study  of  critical  problems  has  immensely 
spread  in  the  continental  countries  of  Europe,  in  England  and 
America.  The  exponents  and  adherents  of  the  Higher  Criti- 
cism are  constantly  growing  more  numerous.  They  claim 
the  brotherhood  of  Tillotson,  Warburton,  Whately,  Thirlwall, 
Heber,  Alford,  Arnold,  and  Kingsley,  of  Stanley  and  Maurice. 
And  some  of  the  most  striking  results  out  of  all  ages  of  inves- 
tigation and  of  more  than  two  centuries  of  criticism  are  to  be 
found  in  the  works  of  Kuenen  among  the  Dutch,  Wellhausen 
in  Germany,  and  Canon  Driver,  of  the  University  of  Oxford. 


IV. 

HIS    BLEMISHES. 

"  Out  with  it  boldly :  truth  loves  open  dealing." 
"  And,  where  the  offence  is,  let  the  great  axe  fall." 

THE  critics  would  say  that  the  Higher  Criticism  has  come 
forth  "  as  a  giant  refreshed  with  wine,"  and  put  the  tradi- 
tional doctrine  of  Inspiration  in  bonds.  Under  the  similitude 
of  a  man,  the  head  is  high  above  all  bondage  in  the  everlasting 
sunlight,  and  the  heart  is  throbbing  with  the  boundless  liberty 
of  God.  But  some  of  the  insignificant  portions  of  the  body 
feel  restraint.  The  critics  would  say  that  the  Bible  stands, 
like  man,  made,  as  it  were,  "in  the  image  of  God;"  but  it  is 
a  "  broken  image."  They  would  say  that  it  stands,  again,  in 
the  likeness  of  that  colossal  figure  in  the  prophet's  vision 
whose  head  and  body  were  of  gold  and  silver,  but  the  feet 
were  made  of  clay. 

The  Higher  Criticism  has  really  dispelled  something  of  the 
obscurity  of  past  ages,  and  taken  away  somewhat  of  the  veil 
to  human  sight,  and  made  men  see  the  Bible  largely  as  it  is,  in 
plain  and  patent  fact ;  and  made  them  tremble,  as  Eli  trem- 
bled, for  the  safety  of  the  ark  of  God.  But  the  Higher  Criti- 
cism is  not  the  synonym  of  infidelity.  It  has  not  overthrown 
the  citadel  of  the  faith.  It  has  figured  as  the  champion  of 
clear  knowledge  and  clear  thought  in  the  realms  of  fact  and 
theology.  It  has  been,  indeed,  a  discriminating  power.  It 
has  pointed  out  and  emphasized  the  difference  between  in- 
spiration and  revelation  and  inspiration  and  infallibility.  A 
revelation  is  the  teaching  of  a  truth  beyond  the  reach  of  un- 

35 


36  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

assisted  human  reason — a  truth  unknown  before.  It  may  be 
made  to  the  uninspired,  as  Christ  revealed  the  essential  spirit- 
uality of  God  to  the  adulterous  woman  of  Samaria.  Infalli- 
bility is  the  flawless  accuracy,  say,  of  a  man  or  book.  But 
inspiration,  in  a  Christian  sense,  is  the  impulse  and  animation 
of  a  soul  to  speak  or  write  as  God  would  have  it  do.  In 
human  theology  it  has  special  reference  to  uttering  prophecy 
and  writing  Scripture.  It  may  come  without  the  accompani- 
ment of  a  revelation,  while  the  prophet  speaks  or  writes,  in 
passionate  enthusiasm,  of  the  eternal  truth  which  hath  ever 
spoken  to  the  common  heart  of  man.  It  may  come  in  com- 
pany with  fallibility,  because  it  may  not  embrace  the  whole 
man,  or  the  whole  life,  or  the  entire  book,  or  every  field  of 
knowledge,  divine  and  human.  It  is  the  confounding  of  these 
three  which  has  confused  the  thought  of  Christendom  for  all 
these  centuries,  and  turned  King  Liber  into  an  idol.  It  is  in 
the  clarifying  of  the  three  that  the  Higher  Criticism  has  won 
our  gratitude.  If,  in  the  process,  we  have  been  robbed  of 
cherished  superstitions  and  fond  errors,  Ave  need  not,  therefore, 
tremble  for  the  faith :  the  edifice  is  not  destroyed  by  the 
blotting  out  of  inartistic  frescoes.  And  then  the  Higher 
Criticism  is  not  a  god — or  devil.  We  need  not  be  transported 
with  consuming  fear.  The  Higher  Criticism  is  a  poor,  im- 
perfect creature,  as  all  things  human  and  mundane  are.  It 
has  its  own  spots  and  blemishes,  and  it  has  made  its  own  mis- 
takes. It  has  stumbled  upon  truth ;  and  then,  again,  with 
serene  and  open  eyes,  it  has  accepted  falsehood  and  pro- 
claimed it  as  invincible.  The  circle  of  its  vision  is  incomplete, 
and  so  it  has  shifted  its  positions,  and  changed  conclusions,  and 
revised  its  articles  of  fact  again  and  again.  But  still  it  is  in 
large  measure  the  fruit  of  that  divine  intelligence  which  is  a 
part  of  the  inheritance  of  the  sons  of  God.  And  so  it  has 
brought  "  hidden  mysteries  "  of  human  knowledge  to  light ;  it 
has  laid  bare  much  of  the  truth  of  history ;  and  it  has  mar- 
shalled an  array  of  arguments  which  stand  in  bristling  opposi- 
tion to  that  infallibility  which  Scripture  never  claimed  for  all 


HIS  BLEMISHES.  37 

its  parts,  and  which  never  was  a  genuine  element  of  inspira- 
tion.    Let  us  look  at  something  of  the  array : 

i.  The  Bible  contains  statements  which  scarcely  call  for 
so  tremendous  an  endowment  as  infallibility.  St.  Paul  says  to 
Philemon  :  x  "  But  withal  prepare  me  also  a  lodging ;"  to  Tim- 
othy:2 "The  cloak  which  I  left  at  Troas  with  Carpus,  when 
thou  comest,  bring  with  thee."  Such  sayings  do  not  even  call 
for  inspiration. 

2.  The  writers  claim  to  sfeak,  at  times,  for  themselves  alone, 
distinguishing  God's  sayings.  St.  Paul  says :  "  Unto  the  mar- 
ried I  command,  yet  not  I,  but  the  Lord,  Let  not  the  wife 
depart  from  her  husband.  .  .  .  But  to  the  rest  speak  I,  not 
the  Lord."3  One  of  the  prophets4  laments  and  exhorts  be- 
cause "  a  man's  enemies  are  they  of  his  own  household,"  and 
adds,  "Therefore  I  will  look  unto  the  Lord;"  and  then  he 
turns  and  speaks  to  the  Lord,  saying,  "  Thou  wilt  perform  the 
truth  to  Jacob,  and  the  mercy  to  Abraham."  So  the  prophets, 
in  all  their  dialogues  with  God,  mark  the  difference  between 
God's  speech  and  their  own.  They  distinguish,  also,  between 
times  when  God  was  with  them  and  when  He  was  not.  "  The 
Word  of  the  Lord  came  to  Ezekiel "  implies  a  time  when  He 
had  not  come.  Elisha  says,  "  The  Lord  hid  it  from  me,"  5 
signifying  that  God  had  not  inspired  him  at  that  time.  And 
St.  Paul  describes  a  like  condition :  "  And  now,  behold,  I  go 
bound  in  the  spirit  unto  Jerusalem,  not  knowing  the  things 
that  shall  befall  me  there." 6  So  it  would  appear  that  the 
writers  were  not  always  inspired,  and  that  the  divine  Being 
did  not  dictate  everything  they  wrote. 

3.  There  are  human  elements  in  the  Bible:  Observation : 
Ezekiel  chooses  for  symbols  the  man  and  lion  and  bull  and 
eagle  which  he  saw  on  the  Assyrian  monuments  and  buildings. 
John,  in  the  Apocalypse,  uses  figures  familiar  in  his  day  as  sig- 
nifying political  overturnings :   "  The  sun  shall  be  darkened, 

1  Philem.  22.  2  n.  Tim.  iv.  13. 

3  I.  Cor.  vii.  10,  12.  4  Micah  vii.  6,  7,  20. 

5  II.  Kings  iv.  27.  6  Acts  xx.  22. 


38  THE  BREATH  OF   GOD. 

and  the  moon  shall  not  give  her  light,  and  the  stars  shall  fall 
from  heaven."  The  burning  of  Rome  was  before  his  mental 
vision,  the  persecution  of  Nero,  the  confusions  and  errors  of 
"the  decade  past."  He  saw  in  Nero  or  the  Roman  empire 
the  beast ;  in  the  ten  chief  provinces  the  ten  horns ;  in  the  seven 
emperors,  Augustus,  Tiberius,  Caligula,  Claudius,  Nero,  Gaiba, 
and  Otho,  the  seven  heads  of  the  beast.  Style:  The  person- 
ality of  the  author  is  stamped  upon  the  various  books.  The 
literary  manner  is  peculiar  to  the  writer.  The  Fourth  Gospel 
bears  the  impress  of  John ;  shows  the  profound  insight  of  one 
who  "leaned  on  Jesus'  breast."  The  Epistles  of  Paul  exhibit 
his  own  fiery  zeal  and  tortuous  logic,  his  digressions  from  one 
thought  to  another,  led  off  by  the  suggestions  of  a  word. 
Matthew  is  different  from  Mark,  and  Hebrews  from  Revela- 
tion ;  Jeremiah  is  far  from  Moses,  and  Ezra  from  Isaiah. 
Imagination ;  Which  wings  its  flight  from  earth  to  heaven, 
and  clothes  the  unseen  in  the  brilliant  earthly  metaphors  of 
jewels;  stars;  seas;  fountains  and  rivers ;  mountains  and  hills ; 
armies  and  their  array ;  the  battle  and  the  siege ;  the  dragon 
and  beast,  lion  and  eagle ;  the  rainbow  and  the  morning  star. 
Passion :  The  psalmist  says :  "  Break  their  teeth,  O  God,  in 
their  mouths;"  "Blessed  be  he  that  taketh  thy  children  and 
dasheth  them  against  the  stones ;"  "  Let  his  children  be  father- 
less, and  his  wife  a  widow.  Let  his  children  be  vagabonds, 
and  beg  their  bread."  St.  Paul  turned  upon  the  high  priest 
with  a  burst  of  wrath,  exclaiming,  "  God  shall  smite  thee,  thou 
whited  wall."  The  same  apostle  "  dubbed  the  whole  race  "  of 
Cretans  "  evil  beasts  and  liars  "  ;  and  he  passionately  tells  the 
Galatians,  of  certain  who  troubled  them,  "  For  I  would  they 
were  cut  off,"  which  means  the  most  cruel  and  barbarous  of 
all  mutilations.  The  process  of  composition  seems  to  be 
perfectly  natural,  with  the  use  of  the  common  faculties  of  the 
mind. 

4.  There  are  mistakes  in  the  Bible,  literal,  verbal,  and  nu- 
merical. If  not  mistakes,  they  would  be  contradictions.  They 
are  due,  doubtless,  to  the  carelessness  or  inaptitude  of  copy- 


HIS   BLEMISHES.  39 

ists.*  Of  the  famine  sent  upon  David  we  read  in  one  place 
"three  years'  famine,"1  in  another  "seven,"2  the  Hebrew 
letter  Gimel  (G)  standing  for  three,  and  Zayin  (Z)  standing 
for  seven.  The  letters  are  very  much  alike.  The  Septuagint 
in  both  places  has  three.  The  number  of  "  Solomon's  officers 
that  bare  rule  over  the  people  "  is  given  in  one  place3  as  250, 
in  another4  as  550.  This  is  owing  to  the  mistake  of  changing 
the  letters  Resh  Nun  (R  N)  to  Daleth  Nun  (D  N).  In  one 
passage  5  the  age  of  Ahaziah  when  he  began  to  reign  is  given 
as  22 — Kaph  Kaph  (K  K) ;  in  another0  as  42 — Mem  Kaph 
(M  K).     There  are  various  other  errors  of  this  kind. 

Of  the  various  "  readings  " — which  are  differences  of  letters, 
words,  phrases,  texts — one  writer  7  estimates  800,000  ;  another 
writer8  gives  about  160,000.  Robert  Stephens  says  that  he 
discovered  2384  in  the  oldest  manuscripts  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment alone.  Of  the  three  oldest  manuscripts  of  the  Greek 
Bible  in  existence,  the  Vatican,  Sinai,  and  Alexandrian,  Pro- 
fessor Westcott  says  of  the  differences :  "  There  cannot  be  less 
than  120,000."  Many  of  these,  however,  are  mere  matters  of 
spelling  and  isolated  aberrations  of  scribes.      "  Probably  there 

*  The  Bible  was  written  on  manuscripts.  These  were  multiplied  by 
copying.  The  copyists  were  clerks  or  scribes.  They  would  sometimes 
mistake  one  letter  for  another  very  much  like  it.  Seeing  a  word  at  the 
end  of  a  sentence,  it  might  chance  that  the  same  word  ended  a  subsequent 
sentence,  and  turning  the  eye  back  to  the  manuscript  the  writer  would  go 
on  from  the  latter  of  the  two  sentences,  thus  making  an  omission.  In 
the  early  manuscripts  all  the  words  on  a  line  were  written  without  any 
space  between  them,  and  copyists  made  mistakes  in  dividing  the  words. 
Perhaps  there  were  mistakes  of  memory,  the  scribe  taking  a  sentence  into 
his  mind  and  in  putting  it  down  on  the  copy  slightly  changing  the  order 
of  the  words,  or  substituting  some  word  of  his  own,  as  clerks  frequently 
do  to-day.  Sometimes  brief  explanatory  notes,  or  paraphrases,  were  put 
on  the  margin,  and  future  copyists  would  put  them  into  the  text. 

1  I.  Chron.  xxi.  12.  -   IT.  Sam.  xxiv.  13. 

3  II.  Chron.  viii.  10.  4  I.  Kings  ix.  23. 

5  IT.  Kings  viii.  26.  6  II.  Chron.  xxii.  2. 

7  Old  Test.  Canon,  Dr.  Moses  Stuart,  p.  169. 

8  Who  Wrote  the  Bible?  Dr.  W.  Gladden,  p.  333. 


40  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

are  not  more  than  from  1600  to  2000  places  in  which  the  true 
reading  is  a  matter  of  uncertainty.  The  doubtful  readings,  by 
which  the  sense  is  affected,  are  very  much  fewer,  and  those  of 
dogmatic  importance  can  be  easily  numbered."1* 

5.  The  Bible  misquotes  itself.  St.  Mark2  quotes,  as  "writ- 
ten in  Isaiah  the  prophet,"  3  the  words,  "  Behold,  I  send  my 
messenger  before  thy  face,  which  shall  prepare  thy  way  before 
thee."  The  passage  is  not  in  Isaiah — though  immediately  fol- 
lowing is  a  quotation  from  him — but  in  Malachi.4  St.  Mat- 
thew says :  "  Then  was  fulfilled  that  which  was  spoken  by 
Jeremy  the  prophet,  saying,  And  they  took  the  thirty  pieces 
of  silver,  the  price  of  Him  that  was  valued,  whom  they  of  the 
children  of  Israel  did  value ;  and  gave  them  for  the  potter's 
field,  as  the  Lord  appointed  me."  5  This  is  not  in  Jeremiah 
at  all ;  it  is,  substantially,  in  Zechariah,  but  with  very  different 
wording.  Jerome  said  that  he  had  heard  of  and  seen  an 
apocryphal  writing  of  Jeremiah  in  which  the  words  quoted 
occur.6  Such  lapses  are  not  consistent  with  the  verbal  in- 
spiration of  quotation. 

6.  The  apostles  of  Christ  differed  among  themselves  about  the 
bearing  of  the  Jewish  law  upon  Christians.     At  that  time  one 

1  Quoted  by  Dr.  Gladden,  pp.  345,  346. 

*  There  are  wide  differences  of  a  more  serious  nature  in  the  various 
manuscripts — differences  in  whole  collections  of  manuscripts.  The  Sep- 
tuagint  contains  several  entire  books  which  are  not  in  the  Hebrew  Bible 
at  all.  They  form  the  bulk  of  what  we  now  call  the  Apocrypha :  such  as 
Tobit  and  Judith,  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon  and  Sirach,  Baruch  and  Su- 
sanna, and  Bel  and  the  Dragon.  And  the  apocryphal  books  are  not  sepa- 
rated to  themselves,  but  are  mingled  indiscriminately  among  the  other 
books.  In  the  Septuagint  the  Books  of  Daniel,  Esther,  and  Jeremiah 
have  additional  matter  not  found  in  the  Hebrew  text.  And  there  are 
considerable  differences  between  the  two  texts  in  the  Books  of  Samuel 
and  Kings. 

2  Mark  i.  2. 

3  The  words  "  in  Isaiah"  are  not  in  King  James's  version,  but  are  in 
the  Greek. 

4  Mai.  iii.  1.  5  Matt,  xxvii.  9,  10;   Zech.  xi.  12,  13. 
6  Com.  in  Ev.  Matt,  ad  loc,  ed.  Migne,  vii.,  213. 


HIS   BLEMISHES.  \\ 

of  them,  at  least,  could  not  have  been  infallible.  St.  Paul  says 
that  Peter  and  James  and  John  were  in  error,  and  that  Peter 
and  others  were  guilty  of  "  dissimulation  "  :  "  But  when  Peter 
was  come  to  Antioch,  I  withstood  him  to  the  face,  because  he 
was  to  be  blamed.  For  before  that  certain  came  from  James, 
he  did  eat  with  the  Gentiles :  but  when  they  were  come,  he 
withdrew  and  separated  himself,  fearing  them  which  were  of 
the  circumcision.  And  the  other  Jews  dissembled  likewise 
with  him  ;  insomuch  that  Barnabas  also  was  carried  away  with 
their  dissimulation.  But  when  I  saw  that  they  walked  not 
uprightly  according  to  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  I  said  unto 
Peter  before  them  all,  If  thou,  being  a  Jew,  livest  after  the 
manner  of  Gentiles,  and  not  as  do  the  Jews,  why  compellest 
thou  the  Gentiles  to  live  as  do  the  Jews  ?  "  1  This  is  a  power- 
ful attack  upon  the  inspiration  of  St.  Peter  at  that  time. 

7.  One — or  more — of  the  apostles  was  mistaken  about  the  sec- 
ond advent.  St.  Paul  thought  that  Christ  would  come  again  in 
his  day.  -He  even  thought  that  in  this  conviction  he  spoke  by 
direct  counsel  of  Christ :  "  For  this  we  say  unto  you  by  the 
word  of  the  Lord,  that  we  which  are  alive  and  remain  unto 
the  coming  of  the  Lord  shall  not  prevent  them  which  are 
asleep."  2  *  St.  John  writes,  in  the  name  of  his  Master,  "  Surely 
I  come  quickly,"  and  answers,  in  devout  anticipation  and 
prayer,  "Amen.  Even  so,  come,  Lord  Jesus."3  St.  James 
says,  "The  coming  of  the  Lord  draweth  nigh."4  St.  Peter 
says,  "The  end  of  all  things  is  at  hand."  5 

8.  There  are  errors  0/  chronology  in  the  Bible.  The  Bible 
limits  the  reign  of  King  Ahab  to  918-897  B.C. ;  the  Assyrian 

1  Gal.  ii.  11-14.  2  j#  Thess.  iv.  15. 

*  Of  this  Bishop  Ellicott  says  :  "It  does  not  seem  improper  to  admit 
that  in  their  ignorance  of  the  day  of  the  Lord  the  apostles  might  have 
imagined  that  lie  who  was  coming  would  come  speedily."1  Conybeare 
and  Howson  say:  "  The  early  church,  and  even  the  apostles  themselves, 
expected  their  Lord  to  come  again  in  that  very  generation."2 

3  Rev.  xxii.  20.  *  James  v.  8.  5  t.  pct-  ;v    y_ 

1  Com.  in  loc.  '*  Life  and  Ep.  of  St.  Paul,  i.,  401. 


42  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

monuments  affirm  that  Ahab  was  engaged  in  a  battle  at  Qar- 
qara  B.C.  853,  forty-four  years  after  his  supposed  death.  In 
the  Bible  Jehu's  reign  ends  in  856  ;  by  the  monuments  he 
pays  tribute  to  Assyria  in  841 — a  difference  of  fifteen  years. 
In  the  Bible  the  reign  of  Azariah  of  Judah  ends  in  751  ;  by 
the  monuments  he  is  defeated  by  Tigiath-Pileser  in  737.  In 
the  one  Menahem  pays  tribute  to  Pul  about  770 ;  by  the  other 
in  737.  In  the  one  Damascus  fell  in  740 ;  by  the  other  in 
732.  Pekah  is  said  to  have  reigned  twenty  years;  by  the 
Assyrian  inscriptions  it  could  have  been  no  more  than  seven 
years.  The  Bible  gives  the  campaign  of  Sennacherib  in  Judah 
as  in  the  fourteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Hezekiah ;  the  monu- 
ments put  it  in  the  twenty-fourth.  The  Jewish  historian  seems 
to  have  confounded  the  invasion  of  Sennacherib  with  that  of 
Sargon,  ten  years  earlier.1 

9.  There  are  historical  mistakes  hi  the  Bible.  The  second 
book  of  Kings  2  implies  that  Sennacherib  conquered  Hamath, 
Arpad,  Sepharvaim,  and  Samaria,  whereas  the  monuments  re- 
cord that  this  was  done  by  Sargon.  So  is  called  in  the  Bible 
"  king  of  Egypt,"  whereas  he  was  only  the  commander  of  the 
Egyptian  army.  Pul  and  "  Tiglath-Pilneser  "  are  described  in 
Chronicles3  as  two  different  persons,  whereas  they  were  one 
and  the  same. 

In  the  Book  of  Daniel  Belshazzar  is  called  the  "last  king 
of  the  Chaldeans  " ;  there  is  an  account  of  the  siege  of  Baby- 
lon ;  the  king  is  said  to  have  been  slain ;  and  Belshazzar  is 
said  to  be  the  son  of  Nebuchadrezzar.  The  monuments  tes- 
tify that  Nabonidos  was  the  last  king,  and  that  Belshazzar 
never  reigned  at  all ;  that  Nabonidos,  the  last  king,  was  not 
slain ;  that  there  was  no  siege  of  Babylon,  but  that  Cyrus 
entered  the  city  in  peace ;  and  that  Belshazzar  was  the  son  of 
Nabonidos,  and  not  of  Nebuchadrezzar. 

In  the  same  Book  of  Daniel  Darius  is  called  the  son  of 
Ahasuerus,  who  in  profane  history  is  known  as  Xerxes,  whereas 

1  See  The  Higher  Criticism  and  the  Monuments,  Sayce,  pp.  408  ff. 

2  II.  Kings  xviii.  34.  3  I.  Chron.  v.  26. 


HIS  BLEMISHES.  43 

the  Assyrian  inscriptions  state  that  Darins  Hystaspis  was  the 
father  of  Xerxes.  The  name  Belteshazzar,  resembling  one 
which  means,  in  Babylonian,  "O  Beltis,  defend  the  king,"  is  cor- 
rupted in  Daniel,  the  first  syllable  being  changed  so  that  it  means 
"  he  caused  to  live,"  making  the  combination,  "  He  caused  to  live 
— defend  the  king,"  which  is  a  meaningless  compound,  and 
unknown  in  Babylonian.1  Abed-Nego  is  a  similar  corruption, 
probably  substituted  for  Abed-Nebo,  "  servant  of  Nebo." 

10.  The  Bible  contradicts  itself.  The  account  of  the  crea- 
tion given  in  the  first  chapter  of  Genesis  has  the  following 
order :  vegetation,  animals,  man ;  that  in  the  second  chapter 
is :  man,  vegetation,  animals,  woman.  In  the  accounts  of  the 
flood,  in  the  sixth  chapter  it  is  said :  "  Of  every  living  thing 
of  all  flesh,  two  of  every  kind  shalt  thou  bring  into  the  ark;" 
in  the  seventh  chapter :  "  Of  every  clean  beast  thou  shalt  take 
to  thee  seven  and  seven."  In  Genesis  xxi.  31  it  is  said  that 
Abraham  called  a  well  Beer-sheba  because  of  a  covenant  be- 
tween him  and  Abimelech ;  but  in  Genesis  xxvi.  33  the  name 
Beer-sheba  is  said  to  have  originated  with  Isaac,  nearly  a 
century  later  than  the  other  incident,  and  on  account  of  an 
oath  between  Abimelech  and  him.  In  chapter  xx.  Abraham 
passes  off  Sarah  as  his  sister,  lest  Abimelech  should  kill  him  to 
take  her ;  but  in  chapter  xxvi.  it  is  Isaac  that  has  passed  off 
Rebecca  as  his  sister  before  Abimelech.  Leviticus2  directs 
the  release  of  the  Hebrew  slave  in  the  year  of  jubilee,  the 
fiftieth ;  Deuteronomy 3  in  the  seventh  year.  In  Numbers 4 
the  firstlings  of  oxen  and  sheep  are  given  to  the  priest ;  in 
Deuteronomy 5  to  the  owner,  who  should  eat  them  at  the 
sanctuary.  The  law  of  Moses  forbids  the  offering  of  sacrifices 
anywhere  but  at  the  main  sanctuary — the  tabernacle  or  the  tem- 
ple ;  but  "  Samuel  sacrifices  on  many  high  places,  Saul  builds 
altars,  David  and  his  son  Solomon  permit  the  worship  at  the 
high  places  to  continue,  and  the  historian  recognizes  this  as 

1  See  High.  Crit.  and  Mon.,  p.  532. 

2  Lev.  xxv.  40.  3  Deut.  xv.  12. 
4  Num.  xviii.  18.  5  Dcut.  xii.  7. 


44  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

legitimate  because  the  temple  was  not  yet  built.1  In  north- 
ern Israel  this  state  of  things  was  never  changed.  The  high 
places  were  an  established  feature  in  the  kingdom  of  Ephraim, 
and  Elijah  himself  declares  that  the  destruction  of  the  altars 
of  Jehovah — all  illegitimate  according  to  the  Pentateuch — is  a 
breach  of  Jehovah's  covenant."  2  The  Levitical  law  forbade 
any  one  but  the  high  priest  entering  the  "  holy  of  holies  "  ;  yet 
Samuel  slept  "in  the  temple  of  the  Lord,  where  the  ark  of  the 
Lord  was." 

In  the  second  book  of  Samuel 3  it  is  said  that  Absalom  re- 
belled against  his  father  "  forty  years,"  after  his  return  to  Jeru- 
salem, though  the  history  of  David's  reign  shows  that  it  could 
not  have  been  for  more  than  one  or  two  years. 

In  the  Book  of  Judges4  the  taking  of  Debir  by  Caleb  is 
said  to  have  been  "  after  the  death  of  Joshua  " ;  in  the  Book 
of  Joshua 5  it  is  described  as  occurring  during  Joshua's  life. 

In  the  second  book  of  Kings6  Hoshea  is  said  to  have 
begun  to  reign  in  Israel  "in  the  twentieth  year  of  Jotham," 
king  of  Judah  ;  three  verses  later  it  is  said  that  Jotham  reigned 
only  "sixteen  years." 

The  second  book  of  Samuel7  says  that  David  took  from 
Hadadezer,  king  of  Zobah,  "  a  thousand  and  seven  hundred 
horsemen;"  in  I.  Chronicles8, we  are  told  that  he  took  "a 
thousand  chariots,  and  seven  thousand  horsemen."  In  Sam- 
uel9 David's  census  shows  800,000  warriors  of  Israel  and 
500,000  of  Judah;  in  Chronicles10  1,100,000  of  Israel  and 
470,000  of  Judah.  In  Samuel11  David  pays  Araunah  for  his 
threshing-floor  "  fifty  shekels  of  silver,"  about  thirty  dollars  ;  in 
Chronicles  12  "  six  hundred  shekels  of  gold,"  about  thirty-four 
hundred  dollars.    In  the  second  book  of  Chronicles 13  it  is  said 

1  I.  Kings  iii.  2-4. 

2  Old  Test,  in  Jew.  Ch.,  Professor  W.  R.  Smith,  pp.  220,  221. 

3  II.  Sam.  xv.  7.  4  Judg.  i.  I,  II,  12.        5  Josh.  xv.  15-19. 

6  II.  Kings  xv.  30,  23-        7  II.  Sam.  viii.  4.  8  I.  Chron.  xviii.  4. 

9  II.  Sam.  xxiv.  9.  10  I.  Chron.  xxi.  5.  n  II.  Sam.  xxiv.  24. 

12  I.  Chron.  xxi.  25.  13  II.  Chron.  xv.  19. 


HIS  BLEMISHES.  45 

that  from  the  fifteenth  to  the  thirty-fifth  year  of  Asa's  reign 
"  there  was  no  war  " ;  in  the  first  book  of  Kings  l  that  "  there 
was  war  between  Asa  and  Baasha  king  of  Israel  all  their 
days."  In  the  second  book  of  Samuel2  it  is  said  :  "The  anger 
of  the  Lord  was  kindled  against  Israel,  and  He  moved  David 
against  them,  saying,  Go,  number  Israel  and  Judah;"  in 
Chronicles:3  "And  Satan  stood  up  against  Israel,  and  moved 
David  to  number  Israel ; "  and  it  is  added  that  because  of  this 
numbering  "  the  Lord  sent  pestilence  upon  Israel :  and  there 
fell  of  Israel  seventy  thousand  men."4 

St.  Matthew 5  says  that  Judas  "  brought  again  the  thirty 
pieces  of  silver  to  the  chief  priests  and  scribes,"  and  "  cast 
down  the  pieces  of  silver  in  the  temple,"  and  "  went  and 
hanged  himself";  and  "the  chief  priests  took  the  silver 
pieces  "  and  "  bought  with  them  the  potter's  field."  St.  Luke, 
in  the  Book  of  Acts,6  says  that  "  this  man  " — Judas,  not  the 
chief  priests — "  purchased  a  field  with  the  reward  of  iniquity  " 
— the  silver  pieces ;  and,  not  that  he  hanged  himself,  but  that, 
"  falling  headlong,  he  burst  asunder  in  the  midst,  and  all  his 
bowels  gushed  out." 

1 1 .  There  are  seeming  discrepancies  in  the  Bible.  The  gene- 
alogy in  St.  Matthew  from  David  to  Christ  gives  twenty-eight 
generations,  and  makes  Jacob  appear  as  the  father  of  Joseph ; 
the  one  in  St.  Luke  gives  thirty-eight  generations,  and  names 
Heli  as  the  father  of  Joseph.  SS.  Matthew  and  Mark  tell  of 
the  healing  of  the  blind  near  Jericho.  They  say  it  was  as 
Jesus  left  the  city ;  St.  Luke  tells  of  such  an  incident  as  he 
was  going  to  the  city.  St.  Matthew  says  that  there  were 
two  blind  men  healed  ;  SS.  Mark  and  Luke  mention  only  one. 
SS.  Matthew  and  Mark  record  the  healing  of  Peter's  wife's  mother 
before  the  calling  of  the  apostles,  St.  Luke  after  the  calling. 
SS.  Matthew  and  Mark  tell  of  one  angel  at  the  sepulchre  of 
Jesus ;  SS.  Luke  and  John  tell  of  two.  St.  Matthew  says  that 
Jesus  was  crucified  at  nine  o'clock,  "  the  sixth  hour;  "  St.  John 

1  I.  Kings  xv.  32.  8  II.  Sam.  xxiv.  I.  3  I.  Chron.  xxi.  I. 

4  I.  Chron.  xxi.  14.  5  Matt,  xxvii.  3-8.  6  Acts  i.  16-19. 


46  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

says  at  twelve,  "  the  ninth  hour."  The  inscription  on  the 
cross  is  given  by  the  four  Evangelists  in  four  different  forms : 
"This  is  Jesus  the  King  of  the  Jews;"  "The  King  of  the 
Jews;"  "This  is  the  King  of  the  Jews;"  "Jesus  of  Nazareth 
the  King  of  the  Jews." 

With  some  scholars  these  discrepancies  are  reconciled,  upon 
various  theories ;  to  others  they  appear  irreconcilable. 

The  scientific  difficulties  about  the  Bible  have  not  been 
given  in  this  account,  because  to  this  writer  the  great  difficul- 
ties do  not  seem  to  exist.  It  is  inconceivable  that  any  writer 
of  the  literary  capacity  displayed  by  the  author,  or  authors, 
of  the  Book  of  Genesis,  should  design  or  attempt  to  make  a 
scientific  statement  on  such  stupendous  subjects  as  the  origin 
of  the  universe,  of  man,  or  of  evil,  in  such  microscopic  space. 
On  these  subjects  the  language  is  sufficiently  broad  and  rhetor- 
ical to  permit  its  application  to  almost  any  scientific  theory. 
It  cannot,  therefore,  be  in  conflict  with,  say,  a  "  nebular  the- 
ory "  or  ascertained  "  evolution."  Any  philosophy  may  open 
its  statements  with  the  preface  that  "  the  earth  was  without 
form,  and  void  "  ;  and  any  science  which  sees  the  human  body 
mouldered  into  dust  may  say  that  man  was  formed  from  "  the 
dust  of  the  ground."  In  the  account  of  the  flood,  also,  the 
language  is  not  technical,  but  epic,  and  the  phrases  which  set 
forth  the  idea  that  all  flesh  and  all  mankind  were  destroyed, 
and  that  the  waters  covered  the  whole  earth,  are  like  those 
which  say  that  David's  kingdom  or  Solomon's  shall  be  estab- 
lished "  forever,"  or  that  there  were  in  Jerusalem,  at  Pentecost, 
men  "  from  every  nation  under  heaven."  The  language  is 
rhetorical,  popular,  and  thus  interpreted  by  those  who  spoke  and 
heard  it.     Like  it  is  the  famous  poetical  quotation  in  Joshua : 

"  Sun  stand  still  in  Gibeon, 
And  moon  in  the  valley  of  Ajalon  ; 
And  the  sun  stood  still, 
And  the  moon  stood, 
Until  the  people  avenged  themselves  on  their  enemies." 

The  poets  do  not  write  for  the  "schools," 


HIS   BLEMISHES. 

Perhaps  the  most  deeply  serious  hindrance  to  belief  in  the 
traditional  idea  of  the  Bible  is  in  the  fact  that  God  is  not  seen 
and  does  not  speak.  All  representations  to  the  contrary  are 
born  of  the  poverty  of  human  thought  and  the  feebleness  of 
human  language.  They  are  metaphors,  figures  of  speech, 
clothing  the  divine  Being  in  the  likeness  of  feeble  men. 
Echoing  the  universal  testimony  of  the  Scriptures,  the  first 
of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  states  that  God  is  "  without  body, 
parts,  or  passions."  Jesus  Christ  said,  "  God  is  spirit."  To 
say  that  He  spake  to  Moses  "  face  to  face  "  is  to  use  a  piece 
of  rhetoric.  It  is  recorded  that  Moses  specially  pleaded  for  a 
glimpse  of  the  august  Countenance,  and  was  denied  it.1  It  is 
also  stated  in  that  connection  that  Moses  did  catch  a  glimpse 
of  His  "  back  parts,"  whatever  that  may  mean.  But  St.  John, 
in  his  Gospel,  declares  that  "  no  man  hath  seen  God  at  any 
time";  2  and  St.  Paul  speaks  of  Him  as  "the  King  eternal, 
immortal,  invisible," 3  "  dwelling  in  the  light  which  no  man  can 
approach  unto ;  whom  no  man  hath  seen,  nor  can  see."  4 

l  Ex.  xxxiii.  23.  2  John  i.  18. 

3  I.  Tim.  i.  17.  4  I.  Tim.  vi.  16. 


V. 

HIS    LIMITATIONS. 
"  They  that  stand  high  have  many  blasts  to  shake  them." 

THERE  are  further  difficulties  in  the  way  of  the  infallibility 
of  the  Bible,  growing  out  of  its  methods  of  composition, 
custody,  and  authorship. 

The  word  "  Bible  "  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  book  itself ;  it 
does  not  so  call  itself.  The  Jews  called  the  writings  of  pro- 
phets and  historians  the  "  Scriptures  "  or  "  Sacred  Scriptures  " 
— that  is,  "writings"  or  "sacred  writings."  The  early  Chris- 
tians called  them  "The  Books."  This  was  the  habit  among 
Christians  till  the  eighth  century.  In  the  thirteenth  century 
the  whole  collection  was  generally  called  "  The  Book." 

Greek  Christians,  in  the  early  days,  used  the  terms  "  Old 
Covenant "  and  "  New  Covenant "  to  describe  the  books 
respectively  of  the  old  and  new  dispensations.  The  word 
"  testament "  is  derived  from  one  of  the  words  used  by  the 
Saviour  at  the  institution  of  the  Supper :  "  This  is  my  blood  of 
the  new  testament."  In  Hebrew  the  word  is  Frith;  in  Greek, 
diatheke;  in  Latin,  testamentum.  It  is  from  this  last  that  our 
word  "  testament "  comes.  The  word  was  used  by  some  of 
the  fathers,  and  its  use  was  fixed,  for  modern  times,  by  Luther 
when  he  put  upon  his  German  translation  of  the  Bible  the 
titles  "  Old  Testament  "  and  "  New  Testament." 

Among  the  early  Jews  the  Bible  was  divided  into  lessons 
from  the  Law  and  from  the  Prophets.  Among  Christians 
Ammonius  of  Alexandria  divided  the  Gospels  into  short  chap- 
ters.   In  the  fifth  century  other  divisions  were  made — the  chap- 

48 


HIS  LIMITATIONS,  49 

ters  in  the  Book  of  Acts  and  the  Catholic  Epistles  by  Eutha- 
lius  of  Alexandria.  The  present  chapters  were  arranged  by 
Cardinal  Hugo,  of  St.  Cams,  in  the  thirteenth  century.  The 
present  arrangement  of  verses  was  made  by  Robert  Stephens, 
in  an  edition  issued  in  1 55 1. 

The  Hebrew  Scriptures  were  written  with  iron  pens,  with 
ink  made  of  lampblack  dissolved  in  gall-juice,  and  on  skins 
from  animals.  The  skins  were  cut  in  strips,  which  were  joined 
end  to  end  and  rolled  from  opposite  extremities  on  two  sticks, 
making  a  scroll.  Scrolls  of  the  ancient  pattern  may  be  seen 
in  modern  Jewish  synagogues.  The  skins,  of  course,  were 
highly  durable,  but  in  the  lapse  of  centuries  the  original  man- 
uscripts of  all  the  Scripture  books  have  disappeared.  The 
manuscript  from  which  our  English  Bible  descended  seems 
to  have  been  cut  or  torn,  at  the  end  of  the  second  book  of 
Chronicles,  right  in  the  middle  of  a  sentence,  where  there 
should  have  been  no  pause  at  all,  not  even  enough  to  be 
punctuated  with  a  comma.  The  first  part  of  the  sentence  is 
repeated,  and  the  conclusion  added,  in  the  third  verse  of  the 
first  chapter  of  the  Book  of  Ezra ;  in  fact,  Ezra  begins  with 
the  twenty-second  verse  of  the  last  chapter  of  II.  Chronicles. 

It  is  said  that  we  have  no  Hebrew  manuscript  of  the  Old 
Testament  older  than  a.d.  iioo,  and  that  the  oldest  are  full 
of  clerical  mistakes.1 

The  books  of  the  New  Testament  were  doubtless  written 
originally  on  papyrus — a  common  writing-material  of  that  day 
— composed  of  the  fibre  of  the  papyrus  plant,  with  some 
glutinous  substance,  subjected  to  pressure. 

There  are  versions  of  the  Old  Testament  which  antedate 
all  manuscripts  in  existence — the  Septuagint,  the  Chaldee  and 
Samaritan  Targums,  the  Syriac  Peshitto,  and  the  Vulgate. 
The  three  oldest  manuscripts  in  existence  are  known  as  the 
Vatican,  Sinai,  and  Alexandrian  MSS.  These  Bibles  are  writ- 
ten in  Greek,  with  only  uncial,  which  are  capital,  letters.  Of 
other  uncial  manuscripts  there  are,  if  we  include  fragments, 

1  Bamp.  Lee,  1885,  p.  3S8,  note  4. 


5°  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

fifty-six  of  the  Gospels,  fourteen  of  the  Acts,  six  of  the  Cath- 
olic Epistles,  fifteen  of  the  Pauline  Epistles,  and  five  of  the 
Apocalypse.  Of  the  cursive  manuscripts — cursive  means  "  run- 
ning hand,"  in  which  letters  were  joined  as  we  join  them  now, 
written  not  in  capitals,  but  small  letters — there  are  about  two 
thousand  of  the  books  and  various  parts  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. The  uncial  letters  show  a  more  ancient  custom  of 
writing  than  the  cursive. 

The  Vatican  and  Sinai  Bibles  are  supposed  by  scholars  to 
have  been  written  in  the  fourth  century,  the  Alexandrian  in 
the  fifth.  The  Vatican  seems  to  be  the  oldest  of  the  three. 
It  is  so  named  because  it  was  found  in  the  Vatican  Library  at 
Rome  in  the  year  1475.  It  contains  the  Septuagint  transla- 
tion of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment— except  the  last  five  chapters  of  Hebrews — the  two 
Epistles  to  Timothy,  those  to  Titus  and  Philemon,  and  the 
Apocalypse.  It  contains  also  the  Apocrypha.  The  Sinai 
Bible  was  found  by  Constantine  Tischendorf  in  a  convent  at 
the  foot  of  Mount  Sinai:  a  few  leaves  in  1844;  nothing  in 
1853,  when  he  returned  to  find  that  the  monks  had  hidden 
them  from  him;  and  the  entire  book  as  it  now  is  in  1859, 
when  he  returned  armed  with  a  letter  from  the  Czar  of  Russia, 
the  head  of  the  Greek  Church.  It  is  now  in  St.  Petersburg. 
It  contains  twenty-two  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  New 
Testament,  the  "  Epistle  of  Barnabas,"  and  a  part  of  the  "  Shep- 
herd of  Hermas."  The  Alexandrian  Bible  was  brought  by 
Cyril  Lucar,  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  from  Alexandria  in 
Egypt,  and  by  him  presented  to  Charles  I.  of  England,  who 
kept  it  in  his  private  library.  In  1753  it  was  taken  to  the 
British  Museum,  in  London,  where  it  remains.  It  contains 
the  following  books,  in  the  following  order :  Vol.  I. :  Penta- 
teuch, Joshua,  Judges,  Ruth,  the  two  books  of  Samuel,  Kings, 
Chronicles ;  Vol.  II. :  the  twelve  minor  prophets,  Isaiah,  Jere- 
miah, Baruch,  Lamentations,  the  Epistle  of  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel, 
Daniel,  Esther,  Tobit,  Judith,  I.  Esdras,  II.  Esdras  (which 
includes  Nehemiah  and  part  of  Ezra),  and  the  four  books  of 


HIS  LIMITATIONS.  51 

the  Maccabees;  Vol.  III.:  an  Epistle  of  Athanasius  to  Mar- 
cellenus  on  the  Psalms,  the  Hypothesis  of  Eusebius  on  the 
Psalms,  the  Book  of  Psalms  (containing  one  hundred  and  fifty- 
one  psalms  and  fifteen  hymns),  Job,  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes, 
Canticles,  Wisdom  of  Solomon,  Ecclesiasticus ;  Vol.  IV. :  the 
four  Gospels,  Acts,  Epistle  of  James,  First  and  Second  of 
Peter,  three  of  John,  Jude,  fourteen  of  Paul  (including  He- 
brews), Revelation,  two  Epistles  of  Clement  to  the  Corinthians, 
and  eight  psalms  of  Solomon. 

i .  Manuscripts  were  few  in  number,  and  exposed  to  a  thou- 
sand and  one  mischances,  from  ignorance,  carelessness,  contro- 
versies, political  dissensions,  fire,  earthquake,  confusions  inci- 
dent upon  epidemics,  war,  captivity,  the  destruction  of  cities 
and  kingdoms. 

During  the  reign  of  Josiah  in  Judah,  six  or  seven  centuries 
after  Moses,  "a  book  of  the  law  of  the  Lord  by  Moses" 
was  found  by  Hilkiah  the  priest.  Whatever  that  book  was  it 
was  clearly  lost,  or  unknown,  at  least  for  some  considerable 
period  before  that  time.  In  another  instance  King  Jehoiakim 
seizes  a  manuscript  of  Jeremiah's  prophecy,  cuts  it  in  strips 
with  a  penknife,  and  burns  it  in  the  fire. 

2.  Hebrew  writings  were  generally  anonymous.  The  names 
of  the  authors  were  not  affixed ;  authorship  of  books  was  a 
matter  of  tradition.  Look  into  your  English  Bible,  into  the 
various  books ;  not  at  the  titles,  which  are  modern,  but  into 
the  text  itself.  It  does  not  say  who  wrote  the  books.  "  The 
vision  of  Isaiah  the  son  of  Amoz,"  begins  one.  "  The  words 
of  Jeremiah  the  son  of  Hilkiah,"  reads  another.  It  is  not  said 
that  either  Isaiah  or  Jeremiah  wrote  these  books.  The  pro- 
phets were  the  clergy  of  their  time — the  great  preachers.  The 
scribes  were  another  class.  There  is  nothing  to  prove  the 
authorship  of  the  books  of  the  Pentateuch,  Joshua,  Judges, 
Samuel,  Kings,  Chronicles,  Ezra,  Nehemiah,  Esther,  Job, 
Jonah,  Ruth,  many  psalms,  Lamentations,  and  Hebrews.  It 
has  been  argued  by  many  eminent  scholars  of  high  Christian 
faith  that  Daniel  could  not  have  written  the  book  called  by 


52  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

his  name,  because  the  book  is  not  in  the  Hebrew  collection  of 
the  prophets.  Neither  he  nor  his  book  is  mentioned  in  the 
contemporaneous  histories  of  the  Exile.  Jesus,  the  son  of 
Sirach,  B.C.  200,  gives  a  list  of  the  prophets  and  other  great 
men  of  Israel,  but  Daniel's  name  is  not  among  them.  Daniel 
is  in  Babylon,  yet  he  says  nothing  of  the  return  from  exile  and 
the  rebuilding  of  the  temple,  so  soon  to  follow — matters  that 
absorbed  Jewish  thought  and  longing.  Persian  words  and 
Greek  words  in  the  prophecy  strongly  argue  for  a  later  author- 
ship than  the  day  of  Daniel.  The  author  seems  to  have  lived 
in  the  days  of  the  Maccabees,  and  to  have  put  his  words  in 
Daniel's  mouth.  Modern  scholars  are  generally  agreed  that 
chapters  xl.-lxvi.  of  Isaiah  are  by  some  "great  unknown." 
Tradition  has  assigned  these  books  to  persons  popularly  sup- 
posed to  have  written  them ;  but  only  tradition.  If  the  in- 
finite and  eternal  Being  had  designed  that  their  authorship 
should  be  a  matter  of  grave  consequence  to  the  world  surely 
He  would  have  taken  some  precaution  to  assure  us  of  it. 

3.  The  titles  of  many  books  were  not  given  by  the  writers.  It 
is  not  known  that  any  of  them  were.  With  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians the  titles  have  been  different.  The  Jews  frequently 
called  books  by  the  first  word  or  two  in  them.  So  it  was  in 
the  Pentateuch :  Genesis  was  called  B'reshith,  "  In  the  begin- 
ning;" Exodus  was  Y'elleh  Sh'moth,  "Now  these  are  the 
names;"  Leviticus  was  Vayyikra,  "And  he  called."  They 
called  the  Book  of  Psalms  Th'hillim,  which  means,  literally, 
praise-songs,  or,  liberally,  praise-book  or  hymnal.  The  titles 
to  many  of  the  single  psalms  were  given  by  editors  or  com- 
pilers. Jerome  gave  the  Books  of  Chronicles  their  present 
name.  The  Jews  called  them  "  Events  of  the  Times  " ;  the 
Septuagint  names  them  " Paraleipomena,"  which  means  "things 
left  over,"  or  supplements.  The  present  title  of  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  is  not  in  some  of  the  earliest  manuscripts.  We 
have  it,  "The  Epistle  of  Paul  the  Apostle  to  the  Hebrews;" 
the  original  title  was,  "  To  the  Hebrews."  In  the  title  to  the 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  the  word  "  Ephesians  "  is  not  in  the 


II IS  LIMITATIONS,  53 

Sinai  or  Vatican  manuscripts.  The  place  is  left  blank,  as 
though  several  copies  had  been  intended,  and  the  space  was 
to  have  been  filled  with  the  name  of  the  particular  church  to 
which  the  copy  should  be  sent. 

4.  Methods  used  for  stirring  to  inspiration  were  sometimes 
hi/man  and  carnal.  Natural  instruments  were  used  to  stimu- 
late natural  excitement  and  credulity.  Music  was  made  a 
prominent  and  potent  factor.  Saul  meets  "a  company  of 
prophets  .  .  .  with  a  psaltery,  and  a  tabret,  and  a  pipe,  and 
a  harp,"  "  and  the  Spirit  of  God  came  upon  him,  and  he 
prophesied."  1  Again,  when  he  was  seeking  David,  and  had 
sent  messengers  after  him  to  Raman,  and  afterward  followed 
them  himself,  both  the  messengers  and  Saul  caught  the  en- 
thusiasm of  the  "  company  of  the  prophets,"  and  "  the  Spirit 
of  God  was  upon  them"  also,  and  they  also  "  prophesied."  2 
When  Elisha  was  called  upon  by  the  kings  of  Israel,  Judah, 
and  Edom,  to  deliver  them  in  their  war  with  Mesha,  king  of 
Moab,  before  he  would  deign  to  notice  his  supplicants  he 
cried,  "Bring  me  now  a  minstrel."3  "And  it  came  to  pass, 
when  the  minstrel  played,  that  the  hand  of  the  Lord  came 
upon  him." 

Dreams  also  were  favorite  instruments  for  laying  open  the 
hearts  of  men  to  receive  the  divine  knowledge ;  as  in  the 
cases  of  Abimelech  and  Jacob,  Joseph,  Gideon,  and  Samuel. 
Then  there  were  trance  and  ecstasy,  as  in  the  case  of  Balaam, 
"  falling  into  a  trance,  but  having  his  eyes  open." 

Oracles  also  were  consulted,  that  men  might  see,  by  the 
oracular  aid,  hidden  truth.  The  children  of  Dan  consulted 
Micah  with  his  "  ephod  "  and  "  teraphim,"  that  they  might 
find  a  territory  for  a  possession,  and  Micah  said,  "  Go  in 
peace:  before  the  Lord  is  your  way  wherein  ye  go."4  And 
David,  seeking  knowledge  whether  Saul  would  pursue  him  to 
Keilah,  and  the  men  of  Keilah  deliver  him  to  Saul,  calls  to 
Abiathar  the  priest,  "  Bring  hither  the  ephod." 

1  I.  Sam.  x.  5,  10.  2  I.  Sam.  xix.  20-24. 

3  II.  Kings  iii.  15.  4  Judg.  xviii.  3-6. 


54  THE  BREATH  OF   GOD. 

The  methods  of  attaining  to  prophecy  even  became  matters 
of  training  and  education,  as  witness  the  "  schools  of  the 
prophets,"  where,  also,  companionship  and  sympathy  might 
kindle  prophetic  enthusiasm. 

5.  The  divine  communications  were  ?wt  recorded  until  long 
after  they  were  given,  and  then  often  not  by  the  prophets  them- 
selves. The  divine  promises  to  Abraham,  the  dreams  of 
Jacob  and  Joseph,  the  dreams  of  Joseph  the  reputed  father  of 
Jesus,  the  message  of  the  angel  of  the  Annunciation  to  the 
Virgin  Mother,  are  instances.  The  first  group  of  these  were 
popularly  supposed  to  have  been  written  by  Moses,  generations 
after  Abraham,  when  his  family  had  become  a  nation ;  the 
others  were  written  down,  not  by  Joseph  and  Mary,  but  by 
Matthew  and  Luke  years  afterward.  "The  narrative  of  the 
events  which  happened  at  Sinai  is  some  centuries  later  than 
those  events."  1  And  the  records  we  have  of  the  sayings  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  Himself  were  not  written  by  apostles  and  evan- 
gelists till  long  after  "  a  cloud  received  Him  out  of  their  sight." 

6.  Prophecy  uses  the  tenses  of  verbs  with  marvellous  freedom. 
It  sweeps  from  century  to  century  and  back  again,  intermin- 
gling the  ages  with  strange  facility,  if  God  put  every  word  into 
every  prophet's  mouth.  Isaiah,  centuries  before,  says  of  Christ, 
centuries  after,  "  Unto  us  a  child  is  born,  unto  us  a  son  is 
given."  Zechariah,  in  a  single  chapter — the  ninth — gazes 
upon  the  martial  figure  of  Alexander  the  Great,  then  upon  the 
gentle  form  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  then  "  suddenly  reverts  to  the 
age  of  the  Maccabees,"  three  hundred  years  before.  Jere- 
miah 2  pictures  the  capture  of  Babylon  by  Cyrus  and  its  final 
destruction  as  one  event,  although  they  were  centuries  apart. 

7.  The  Bible  writers  dreiv  from  other  sources.  They  gath- 
ered materials  as  other  authors  do.  If  Moses  wrote  the  Penta- 
teuch he  incorporated  in  it  some  things  of  which  there  were  pre- 
vious accounts.  The  archaeologists  tell  us  that  Ramses  II.  was 
the  Pharaoh  of  the  Oppression,  and  that  he  died  in  1281  B.C.  ;3 

1  Sanday,  Bamp.  Lee,  1893,  p.  234.  2  Jer.  1.  li. 

3  High.  Crit.  and  Mon.,  Sayce,  pp.  241,  242. 


HIS  LIMITATIONS.  55 

that  the  Exodus  took  place  in  the  reign  of  his  son  and  suc- 
cessor, Meneptah  II.1  This  would  bring  the  time  of  Moses 
not  later  than  the  latter  half  of  the  thirteenth  century  B.C. 
The  Tel-el- Amarna  tablets,  discovered  in  Egypt  in  1887,  date 
from  the  century  before  the  Exodus.  They  show  that  Baby- 
lonian culture  had  spread  through  Palestine  and  Syria  into 
Egypt.  They  are  written  in  the  Babylonian  language,  and 
show  that  that  language  was  familiar  to  the  cultured  classes 
of  those  countries,  just  as  French  has  been  familiar  in  the 
countries  of  modern  Europe.  Poems  of  the  creation,  stories 
of  the  Garden  of  Eden,  of  the  fall  of  man,  of  the  flood,  of  the 
tower  of  Babel,  which  the  archaeologists  tell  us  date  from  over 
two  thousand  years  before  Christ,  and  which  were  current  in 
Babylonia  and  Assyria,  as  the  monuments  show,  were  there- 
fore familiar,  it  is  said,  to  cultured  people  in  Moses'  time. 
Moses  was,  the  Bible  tells  us,  "learned  in  all  the  wisdom  of 
the  Egyptians."  The  Egyptians  were  "  wise  "  in  the  language 
of  the  Babylonians,  and,  it  seems  fair  to  infer,  knew  their  cos- 
mology and  religion.  If,  therefore,  Moses  wrote  the  first  chap- 
ters of  Genesis,  it  seems  fair  to  infer  that  he  drew  something 
of  his  story  from  the  traditions,  beliefs,  and  historical  accounts 
current  in  his  day. 

The  almost  universal  conviction  of  modern  scholars  is  that 
Genesis  is  composed,  in  part,  of  earlier  documents.  Indeed, 
the  biblical  authors  refer  to  other  documents  by  name,  in  some 
instances  quote  from  them,  and  at  least  show  that  they  were 
consulted.  There  are :  the  "  Book  of  the  Wars  of  Jehovah  ;"2 
the  "  Book  of  Jasher,"  3  in  which  is  the  "  Song  of  the  Bow  " ; 
the  "History  of  Samuel  the  Seer,"4  the  "  History  of  Nathan 
the  Prophet,"  and  the  "History  of  Gad  the  Seer";  the 
"  Prophecy  of  Ahijah  the  Shilonite,"  and  the  "  Visions  of 
Iddo  the  Seer  "  ;5  the  "  Book  of  Shemaiah  the  Prophet  "  ;G  the 
"  Book  of  the  Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Israel " 7  and  the 

1   High.  Crit.  and  Mon.,  Sayce,  p.  240.  -  Nam.  xxi.  14. 

3  II.  Sam.  i.  18.  4  I.  Chron.  xxix.  29.         5  II.  Chron.  ix.  29. 

fi  II.  Chron.  xii.  15.  7  I.  Kings  xiv.  19. 


56  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

"  Book  of  the  Chronicles  of  the  Kings  of  Judah,"  1  which  are 
not  our  "  Kings  "  and  "  Chronicles  "  ;  the  "  Acts  of  Uzziah  "  ;2 
and  the  "Book  of  Jehu  the  Son  of  Hanani."3 

8.  Some  laws  and  institutions  are  prior  to  Moses,  although 
he  has  been  thought  the  first  of  the  sacred  writers.  Sacrifice 
was  common  among  all  nations.  Circumcision,  the  Bible 
itself  shows,  was  practised  by  the  Arabs,  Moabites,  Ammon- 
ites, and  Edomites.  Herodotos  says  that  it  was  used  by  the 
Phenicians,  Colchians,  and  Ethiopians.  From  earliest  history 
it  was  practised  by  the  Egyptians,  and  still  is  ;  and  inscriptions 
indicate  it  in  Babylonia.4  The  word  "  Sabbath  "  is  of  Baby- 
lonian origin,  from  Saoattu,5  which  is  described  on  the  Baby- 
lonian tablets  as  "  a  day  of  rest  for  the  soul."  The  Assyrians 
derived  the  word  "  from  two  Sumerian  or  pre-Semitic  words,  sa 
and  bat,  which  meant,  respectively,  '  heart '  and  '  ceasing.'  " 
In  Babylonia  even  the  king  "  must  not  eat  flesh  cooked  over 
the  coals  or  in  smoke,  .  .  .  change  the  garments  of  his 
body,"  offer  " sacrifices,"  wear  "white  robes,"  or  ride  in  a 
"  chariot." 

9.  There  are  successive  authorships  in  the  Old  Testament.  Of 
this  the  great  majority  of  the  books  bare  traces.  That  God 
should  inspire  one  man  to  write  one  infallible  book  is  more 
comprehensible  than  that  He  should  inspire  many  men  to  write 
many  fragments,  which  somehow  should  be  gotten  together 
and  thus  constitute  an  infallible  volume.  It  is  generally 
regarded6  as  scarcely  doubtful  by  the  higher  critics — among 
them  the  professors  of  Hebrew  in  the  universities  of  Oxford, 
Cambridge,  and  Edinburgh — that  the  Pentateuch  embraces 
four  separate  documents  by  four  distinct  authors,  of  marked 
individualities  of  literary  style.  Before  them  all,  in  point  of 
antiquity,  is  the  Song  of  Deborah,  in  the  Book  of  Judges, 
which  is  regarded  as  the  oldest  piece  of  Hebrew  literature  in 
existence.     The  four  documents  of  the  Pentateuch  are  known 

1  I.  Chron.  ix.  I.  2  II.  Chron.  xxvi.  22.  3  II.  Chron.  xx.  34. 

4  High.  Crit.  and  Mon.,  pp.  280,  281.  5  Ibid.,  p.  74. 

6  Old  Test.  Criticism,  Quarterly  Rev.,  April,  1894. 


HIS  LIMITATIONS. 


57 


as  the  Jehovist,  which  is  reckoned  to  have  been  written  at  the 
end  of  the  ninth  or  beginning  of  the  eighth  century  B.C. ;  the 
Second  Elohist,  about  fifty  years  later ;  the  Deuteronomist,  not 
later  than  621  b.c.  ;  the  First  Elohist,  or  Priest's  Code,  in  the 
first  quarter  of  the  fifth  century  b.c.     These  four  are  generally 
admitted  among  scholars.     Each  existed  as  an  independent 
code   before   incorporation   into   the    Pentateuch.     Each  can 
be,  in  its  main  features,  distinctly  traced,  and  while  there  are 
some  differences  among  critics  as  to  details,  there  is  practical 
unanimity  as  to  the  main  outlines.     In  these  documents  there 
are  three  distinct  codes  of  laws:  (1)  the  Book  of  the  Cove- 
nant, embracing   chapters   xx.-xxiv.,   xxxiv.   of  the   Book  of 
Exodus;  (2)  Deuteronomy,  the  popular  and  prophetic  code; 
(3)  the  Priest's  Code,  of  which  Leviticus  is  the  centre,  with 
Exodus  xxv.-xxxii.,   xxxv.-xl.,   and   Numbers  i.-x.,  xv.-xix., 
xxv.-xxxvi.     The  laws  of  the  three  codes,  as  we  now  have 
them,   gathered   in   and    scattered    through    the    Pentateuch, 
"probably  date  from  every  period  in  the  history  of  Israel;" 
some  of  them,  like  circumcision  and  the  Sabbath,  going  back 
before  Moses,  and   others  belonging  to  the  period  between 
Ezekiel  and  Ezra,  or  perhaps  later. 

The  oldest  Pentateuchal  document,  be  it  observed,  is  cred- 
ited to  the  eighth  or  ninth  century  b.c,  whereas  it  is  estimated 
that  Moses  flourished  in  the  thirteenth. 

Besides  the  four  authors  referred  to,  many  of  the  critics 
have  become  convinced  that  each  document  received  contri- 
butions from  several  other  authors,  and  that  there  were  various 
modifications  by  various  editors,  the  entire  combination  and 
arrangement  of  the  Pentateuch  having  been  most  probably 
made  by  Ezra  about  the  year  444  b.c. 

Evidences  of  the  separate  documents  may  be  seen  in  the 
two  accounts  in  Genesis  of  the  creation  and  the  flood,  those 
of  the  creation  giving  in  the  first  chapter  one  order  and  in 
the  second  chapter  another  order  in  which  the  universe  was 
made.  In  the  accounts  of  the  flood,  intermingled  as  they  are 
in  the  sixth  chapter,  let  us  see  one  or  two  examples : 


58  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

Jehovist :  "And  Jehovah  saw  that  the  wickedness  of  man 
was  great  in  the  earth." 

Elohist :  "And  Elohim  looked  upon  the  earth,  and,  behold, 
it  was  corrupt;  for  all  flesh  had  corrupted  his  way  upon  the 
earth." 

Jehovist:  "And  Jehovah  said,  I  will  destroy  man  whom  I 
have  created  from  the  face  of  the  earth." 

Elohist:  "And  Elohim  said,  .  .  .  The  end  of  all  flesh  is 
come  before  me ;  .  .  .  and,  behold,  I  will  destroy  them  with 
the  earth." 

Jehovist :  "  But  Noah  found  grace  in  the  eyes  of  Jehovah." 

Elohist:  "And  Noah  walked  with  Elohim." 

And  so  with  words,  phrases,  style  peculiar  to  the  writer, 
names,  allusions  to  customs  and  events  that  are  not  such  as 
the  traditional  author  could  refer  to,  through  many  books  the 
impress  of  other  authors  and  editors  may  be  traced.  "  Even 
Deuteronomy,"  says  one  writer,  is  probably  the  work  of  a 
"  school  or  succession  of  writers,  who  have  left  their  impress 
deeply  traced  upon  the  Books  of  Joshua,  Judges,  Kings,  and 
.  .  .  Samuel."  Isaiah  is  not  all  Isaiah,  say  others ;  Jeremiah 
has  had  other  words  mingled  with  his  own ;  and  neither  is 
methodically  or  chronologically  arranged.  Jonah  appears  to 
have  been  written  three  or  four  centuries  after  his  day,  and 
contains  "reminiscences"  of  the  Psalms.  Micah  and  Zecha- 
riah  have  other  prophecies  mingled  with  their  own.  Malachi 
may  not  be  even  a  name,  and  is  wholly  unknown  in  person. 
The  Psalms  and  Proverbs  were  touched  by  many  hands.  In 
Job  the  speeches  of  Elihu  are  interpolated,  and  mar  the  sym- 
metry of  the  drama.  Chronicles  is  a  compilation  from  many 
sources ;  and  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  another  compilation,  by  the 
same  hands,  long  after  their  heroes  had  "fallen  asleep." 


VI. 

HIS    MINISTERS. 
"  Thou  wilt  not  utter  what  thou  dost  not  know." 

WHAT,  then,  did  Moses  write  ?  It  is  very  difficult  to 
answer,  say  the  critics.  "  The  older  historical  writing 
was  all  of  it  the  work  of  prophets."  There  is  "  a  double 
stream  of  narrative  "  in  the  Pentateuch,  written  during  the 
periods  of  the  Monarchy  and  the  Exile,  "  variously  dated  be- 
tween 900  and  750  B.C." 

1.  It  is  thought  that  the  law  grew  up  originally  out  of  the  de- 
cisions of  Moses,  for  "  Moses  sat  to  judge  the  people."  x  He 
said,2  "  Because  the  people  come  unto  me  to  inquire  of  God : 
when  they  have  a  matter,  they  come  unto  me ;  and  I  judge 
between  one  and  another."  But  Jethro,  his  father-in-law, 
thought  this  too  heavy  a  tax  and  strain  upon  him,  and  pro- 
posed that  he  should  appoint  others  to  relieve  him  of  this 
labor  and  responsibility.  "  And  Moses  chose  able  men  out  of 
all  Israel.  .  .  .  And  they  judged  the  people  at  all  seasons."  3 
And  so,  perhaps,  a  fuller  law  grew  up  out  of  their  decisions 
and  those  of  Deborah  and  Samuel.4 

2.  The  Bible  claims  directly  that  Moses  wrote  some  things ; 
the  Book  of  the  Covenant ;  5  and,  on  the  second  pair  of  tables, 

"  the  ten  commandments  "  ;  and  the  story  of  the  defeat  of 
Amalek  ;6  and  "  the  words  of  the  law  "  in  a  book.7 

3.  It  does  not  seem  probable,  however,  that  Moses  wrote  the 

1  Ex.  xviii.  13.         2  Ex.  xviii.  15,  16.         3  Ex.  xviii.  25,  26. 
4  Jurlg.  iv.  4,  5  ;  I.  Sam.  vii.  16,  17.  5  Ex.  xxiv.  4,  7. 

6  Ex.  xvii.  14.  7  Deut.  xxxi.  24-26. 

59 


60  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

account  of  his  own  death  in  Deuteronomy ;  or  that  he  wrote, 
"  Moreover  the  man  Moses  was  very  great  in  the  land  of 
Egypt,  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people;"1  or,  "Now  the  man 
Moses  was  very  meek  above  all  the  men  which  were  on  the 
face  of  the  earth;"2  or,  "There  arose  not  a  prophet  since  in 
Israel  like  unto  Moses."  3 

The  expression  "  the  Canaanite  was  then  in  the  land " 4 
looks  as  though  it  were  written  by  some  one  at  a  time  when 
the  Canaanite  was  not  in  the  land,  a  period  long  after  the 
death  of  Moses.  The  expression  "  while  the  children  of  Israel 
were  in  the  wilderness  "  5  looks  like  the  writing  of  one  who 
had  got  out  of  the  wilderness,  which  Moses  never  did  but  by 
death.  "These  are  the  kings  that  reigned  over  the  land  of 
Edom  before  there  reigned  any  king  over  the  children  of 
Israel."  6  Moses  knew  of  no  king.  Saul  was  the  first  king,  at 
least  three  hundred  years  after  Moses.  In  the  twentieth  chap- 
ter of  Numbers,  in  the  first  verse,  it  is  recorded  that  the  children 
of  Israel  reached  Kadesh.  This  was  in  the  first  month  of  the 
third  year  of  the  wandering.  Yet  in  the  twenty-second  verse 
of  the  same  chapter  there  is  a  record  of  Aaron's  death  at 
Mount  Hor,  which  was  in  the  fortieth  year  of  the  wandering. 
Here  is  a  chasm  in  the  history  of  thirty-eight  years.  It  does 
not  look  like  a  continuous  history  written  by  one  hand,  and 
that  the  hand  of  the  central  figure  in  the  history.  In  Exodus, 
twenty-third  and  thirty-sixth  chapters,  there  are  two  records 
of  the  same  set  of  laws,  repeated  almost  word  for  word ;  in 
Leviticus,  eighteenth  and  twentieth  chapters,  a  similar  instance. 
One  writer  would  scarcely  have  given  the  repetitions. 

4.  77  is  important  to  observe  that  neither  the  Pentateuch  nor 
any  of  its  separate  books  state  that  Moses  was  the  author  of 
them  ;  that  none  of  the  later  books  of  the  Old  Testament  state 
it.  They  refer  to  Moses  not  as  an  author  or  writer,  but  as  a 
leader,  an  intercessor,  a  prophet.7     They  also  refer  to  the  law 

1  Ex.  xi.  3.  2  Num.  xii.  3.  3  Deut.  xxxiv.  10. 

4  Gen.  xii.  6.  5  Num.  xv.  32.  6  Gen.  xxxvi.  31. 

?  Jer.  xv.  1 ;  Micah  vi.  4;  Hos.  xii.  13. 


His  MINISTERS.  6i 

of  Moses,  but  never  say  that  it  was  written  by  him.  The 
apocryphal  books  of  the  Old  Testament  do  not  state  it;  nor 
the  teachings  of  Christ ;  nor  any  apostolic  or  sub-apostolic 
writer ;  nor  any  council — ecumenical,  national,  or  provincial ; 
nor  does  any  consensus  of  the  Christian  fathers,  nor  any  one 
father,  speaking  with  authority. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  claimed  in  the  Pentateuch  that  cer- 
tain parts  of  it  were  written  by  Moses.  This  is  recognized  by 
the  later  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  It  became  customary 
to  speak  of  the  whole  as  written  by  him.  In  the  three  cen- 
turies before  Christ  there  grew  up  a  widespread  belief  that  he 
wrote  the  whole ; l  and  this  popular  belief  has  been  handed 
down  to  our  own  day. 

5.  The  gathering  together  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment into  what  is  known  as  the  canon  marked  the  estimate 
put  upon  them  as  of  divine  origin,  and  stamped  them  as 
"  Scripture."  How  each  separate  document  or  book  was  re- 
garded when  written  we  have  no  means  of  knowing ;  at  least 
some  of  them  were  not  regarded  as  sacred  from  the  begin- 
ning. It  is  generally  agreed  among  scholars  that  the  canon 
of  the  law  was  settled  by  Ezra  in  the  year  444  B.C.*  It  is 
largely  agreed,  also,  that  the  canon  of  the  prophets  was  set- 

1  See  Old  Test.  Crit.,  Quarterly  Rev.,  April,  1894. 

*  Others  of  the  present  books  were  written  before  that  time,  and  others 
afterward.  The  dates  assigned  to  them  by  Professor  Sanday  in  his  Bamp- 
ton  Lectures,  and  Professor  Driver  in  his  Introduction,  are  as  follows  : 
Psalms,  from  David,  977,  downward  to  the  second  century  B.C. ;  Song  of 
Songs,  after  .Solomon,  937;  Obadiah,  perhaps  844;  Joel,  perhaps  817; 
Amos,  760;  Hosea,  740;  Isaiah,  737-700;  Micah,  700,  chapters  vi.,  vii., 
686;  Zechariah,  ix.-xiv.,  eighth  century  (Driver);  Nahum,  624;  Zepha- 
niah,  621  ;  Habakkuk,  608 ;  Ruth,  period  of  Exile,  sixth  century  (Driver)  ; 
Jeremiah,  627-580;  Lamentations,  perhaps  627-580;  Job,  not  earlier 
than  627,  perhaps  in  sixth  century  (Driver) ;  substantial  completion  of 
Books  of  Kings,  600;  Ezekiel,  592-572;  Isaiah,  xl.-lxvi.,  546-538; 
Haggai,  520;  Zechariah,  i.-viii.,  520-518;  Malachi,  shortly  before  432 
(Driver);  Ecclesiastes  and  Esther,  not  earlier,  perhaps  later,  than  332 
(Driver);  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  about  300;  many  psalms,  final  arrange- 
ment of  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  perhaps  Jonah,  about  this  time ;  Chron- 
icles, 300;  Daniel,  164. 


62  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

tied  in  the  course  of  the  third  century  B.C.1  Nehemiah  had 
gathered  together  the  Books  of  Joshua,  Judges,  Samuel,  and 
Kings,  and  about  his  time  began  the  third  collection,  of  such 
bouks  as  made  up  the  Hagiographa.  The  process  of  mak- 
ing this  collection  extended  through  several  centuries,  and 
the  sacred  authority  of  some  of  the  books  was  disputed  till 
a  late  date.  The  fact  that  the  Chronicles  stand  at  the  end  of 
the  Hebrew  Bible  indicates  that  they  were  admitted  to  the 
canon  at  a  late  date.  The  Books  of  Canticles  and  Ecclesi- 
astes  were  long  disputed  among  the  Jews,  and  the  question 
of  their  admission  was  not  settled  by  any  authority  until  the 
Jewish  Synod  of  Jamnia,  in  a.d.  90,  about  sixty  years  after 
the  death  of  Christ,  when  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament 
was  finally  closed ;  although  even  after  this  some  devout  Jews 
continued  to  be  doubtful  about  the  Book  of  Esther. 

6.  Of  the  history  of  the  New  Testament  books  much  the 
same  may  be  said  as  has  been  said  of  the  Old  Testament. 
The  gospel  was  first  oral,  transmitted  from  mouth  to  mouth 
for  years  after  it  was  first  spoken  by  the  Master.  The  titles 
of  the  books  as  we  have  them  are  not  always  correct,  as  in  the 
Epistles  to  the  Ephesians  and  Hebrews,  before  mentioned. 
The  earliest  of  the  books,  the  First  Epistle  to  the  Thessalo- 
nians,  was  not  written  till  a.d.  52,  some  twenty  years  after  the 
death  of  Christ.  The  Gospel  of  Luke  was  a  little  earlier  than 
the  Acts,  which  was  written  in  63.  The  Gospels  of  Matthew 
and  Mark  came  a  little  later,  apparently  before  70.  The 
Book  of  Revelation  dates  from  68  or  69,  and  the  Gospel  and 
Epistles  of  St.  John  somewhere  in  the  nineties.  Some  of 
these  books  also  appear  to  be  anonymous.  The  authorship  of 
Hebrews  has  never  been  settled;  that  of  Jude  and  II.  Peter 
has  been  questioned.  Even  so  distinguished  a  theologian  as 
Calvin  denied  that  Peter  had  written  the  second  epistle  of  his 
name,  and  so  great  a  man  as  Luther  denied  that  John  had 
written  the  Apocalypse. 

The  New  Testament  does  not  consist  of  the  first  writings 
1  Bamp.  Lee,  1893,  p.  101. 


HIS  MIXISTERS.  63 

ever  made  on  the  subject  of  Christ  and  the  gospel.  St.  Luke 
says :  "  Forasmuch  as  many  have  taken  in  hand  to  set  forth 
in  order  a  declaration  of  those  things  which  are  most  surely 
believed  among  us  ...  it  seemed  good  to  me  also  ...  to 
write."1  From  this  it  appears  that  there  were  "many"  ac- 
counts, notes,  memoranda,  from  which  the  New  Testament 
writers  drew.  They  also  compiled,  as  did  the  Old  Testament 
writers.  They  also  gathered  materials,  as  historians  have  done 
before  and  since.  They  quote  also  from  books  not  in  the 
canon,  although  the  quotations  are  of  a  liberal  kind.  St.  James 
quotes  from  Sirach  ;  2  Romans  and  Hebrews  from  Wisdom  ;  3 
Corinthians  from  Judith ;  4  and  Jude  from  Enoch.5 

The  original  manuscripts  of  these  books,  written  on  papy- 
rus, soon  perished.  Copies  were  multiplied,  and  marginal 
notes  crept  into  the  text,  some  of  which  we  can  easily  distin- 
guish by  comparing  King  James's  version  with  the  Revised 
Version.     Readings  varied,  and  discrepancies  arose. 

The  New  Testament  books  were  written  in  the  Greek  lan- 
guage, while  the  language  spoken  by  Christ  was  Aramaic,  so 
that  we  have  only  a  very  few  of  the  actual  words  of  Christ. 
In  one  instance  He  said,  Ephphatha  6 — "  Be  opened  ;  "  in  an- 
other, Taliiha  cumi 7 — "  Damsel,  I  say  unto  thee,  Arise  ;  "  in  a 
third,  Eli,  Eli,  lama  sabachthani  ?  8 — "  My  God,  my  God,  why 
hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  "     And  these  are  all. 

7.  Some  of  the  Old  Testament  books  are  quoted  in  the 
New,  and  as  sacred  Scriptures,  which  is  thought  to  imply  an 
indorsement  of  them  as  of  divine  authority.  But,  as  we  have 
seen,  other  books  are  also  quoted.  If  quotation  stamps  Isaiah 
as  divine  it  also  stamps  Enoch  as  divine.  And  non-quotation 
leaves  the  books  not  quoted  without  indorsement,  which  would 
mark  invidiously  Ecclesiastes,   Canticles,   Esther,   Ezra,  and 

1  Luke  i.  1,  3.  2  James  i.  19;   Sirach  v.  11,   iv.  29. 

3  Ileb.  i.  3;   Wis.  vii.  26;  Rom.  ix.  21;  Wis.  xv.  7. 

4  I.  Cor.  ii.  10,  11  ;  Judith  viii.  14. 

5  Jude  14,  15;   Enoch,  ch.  ii.  6  Mark  vii.  34. 
Mark  v.  41.                  8  Matt,  xxvii.  46. 


64  THE   BREATH  OF  GOD. 

Nehemiah,  which  are  not  so  much  as  in  any  way  referred  to 
in  the  New  Testament. 

It  is  true  that  Christ  himself  refers  to  the  Old  Testament,  as 
in  the  case  of  Jonah :  "  As  Jonah  was  three  days  and  three 
nights  in  the  whale's  belly,  so  shall  the  Son  of  man  be  three 
days  and  three  nights  in  the  heart  of  the  earth."  1  And  it  is 
thought  that  this  stamps  the  narrative  of  Jonah  as  literal  fact 
and  indorses  the  inspiration  of  the  book.  But  Christ  also 
speaks  of  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun,  which  by  parity  of 
reason  would  set  the  divine  seal  to  a  false  fact.  The  sun 
does  not  rise  and  set,  but  the  current  metaphors  may  well 
have  been  taken  upon  the  divine  lips ;  and  the  current  esti- 
mate of  Jonah  may  well  have  been  used  by  the  divine  Teacher 
for  purposes  of  illustration.  If  the  story  of  Jonah  was  not 
true  why  did  He  not  denounce  it  ?  It  may  as  well  be  asked 
why,  in  speaking  of  the  story  of  creation,  He  did  not  declare 
that  the  six  days  were  not  natural  days  of  twenty-four  hours. 
It  is  not  profane  to  say  that  perhaps  He  did  not  know.  He 
had  submitted  to  limitations  when  He  "  emptied  himself  "  of 
His  glory  and  became  man.  There  were  things  which  He  de- 
clared He  did  not  know :  "  But  of  that  day  and  that  hour 
knoweth  no  man,  no,  not  the  angels  which  are  in  heaven, 
neither  the  Son,  but  the  Father." 2  And  St.  Luke  says :  3 
"  And  Jesus  increased  in  wisdom  and  stature,  and  in  favor 
with  God  and  man." 

8.  The  canon  of  the  New  Testament  was  formed  gradually, 
as  was  that  of  the  Old.  It  was  a  process,  not  an  act.  The 
apostolic  writings  were  read  with  respect.  It  does  not  appear 
that  they  were  at  first  regarded  as  Scripture.  As  time  passed 
they  grew  in  value.  They  were  nearer  the  origin  of  Christian- 
ity than  others.  They  were  written  by  men  who  knew  the 
Lord  Jesus.  In  the  latter  half  of  the  second  century  they 
were  gathered  together  for  the  first  time.  The  first  part  was 
called  "  The  Gospel,"  and  contained  the  four  Gospels ;  the 
second  part  was  called  "The  Apostle,"  and  contained  the 

1  Matt.  xii.  40.  2  Mark  xiii.  32.  3  Luke  ii.  52. 


HIS  MINISTERS.  65 

Acts,  thirteen  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  one  of  St.  Peter,  one  of 
St.  John,  and  Revelation. 

Numerous  other  Christian  writings  sprang  up,  and  Chris- 
tians began  a  process  of  sifting,  to  determine  which  should  be 
regarded  as  Scripture.  Fathers  and  churches  were  not  at  first 
agreed ;  they  had  various  lists  of  books,  which  each  regarded 
as  sacred — some  more  so,  some  less  so.  The  value  of  them 
was  not  equal  in  the  eyes  of  fathers  and  churches.  Origen 
(a.d.  185-253)  seems  to  be  the  first  to  furnish  a  list  of  the 
books  as  we  have  them  now,  though  he  expresses  doubts  of 
II.  Peter  and  II.  and  III.  John.  Athanasius  (a.d.  363)  is  the 
next  to  give  the  complete  canon.  And  the  question  of  what 
should  constitute  the  New  Testament  seems  to  have  been 
finally  settled  at  the  Councils  of  Carthage,  in  397  and  419. 


VII. 


HIS   FRIENDS. 


"As  on  a  mountain-top  the  cedar  shows, 
That  keeps  his  leaves  in  spite  of  any  storm." 

IS  all  this  vague,  irrelevant,  inconclusive  on  the  question  of 
Inspiration  ?  Is  it  ad  rem  as  to  the  subject  of  Introduc- 
tion, and  de  aliis  as  to  Inspiration  ?  It  might  seem  so.  If 
so  it  would  be  nothing  worse  than  an  imitation  of  the  modern 
fashion  in  writing  books.  They  deal  profusely  and  exclusively 
with  some  other  subject  than  the  one  to  which  their  pages  are 
dedicated.  In  this  instance,  however,  there  would  be  the 
generous  excuse  of  necessity.  For  there  is  not  a  phase  in  the 
history  of  biblical  opinion  which  is  not  of  interest  in  the  inves- 
tigation ;  and  there  is  not  an  item  in  the  history  of  criticism 
which  is  not  of  consequence  in  the  settlement  of  the  issue. 
If  the  books  are  divine,  why  all  the  natural  processes  in  their 
origin  and  history  ?  If  God  had  settled  their  status,  why  the 
slow  judgment  of  men  and  churches  to  pass  upon  it  ?  Do 
they  contradict  themselves  ?  Then  they  are  not,  so  far,  of 
God.  Does  Inspiration  cover  the  book,  or  does  it  only  here 
and  there  inflame  its  pages  ?  Are  there  verbal  mistakes  ? 
Then  it  cannot  be  verbally  inspired.  Is  the  history  false  in 
certain  details  ?  Then  that  portion  cannot  be  inspired.  Are 
the  writers  passionate  and  contentious  ?  Then  in  such  moods 
the  divine  afflatus  was  wanting.  Are  they  not  always  inspired? 
Then  there  must  be  discrimination  about  their  sayings.  Are 
the  original  manuscripts  lost  ?  Then  we  cannot  tell,  amid  the 
sea  of  differences,  the  original  words  in  every  text.      Was 

66 


HIS   l-KIEXDS.  07 

there  an  "  apostolical  succession  "  of  writers  in  a  single  book? 
Were  there  innumerable  copies  ?  Were  there  compilations, 
extracts  from  profane  history,  editors  and  redactors?  Then  to 
make  it  all  infallible  there  must  have  been  infallibility  all  along 
the  line.  Is  Inspiration  of  such  a  nature  as  to  bridge  over 
all  such  difficulties,  or  of  such  a  nature  as  to  stand  supreme 
among  them  ? 

As  to  the  quantity  of  "  Inspiration  "  in  these  pages,  there  is 
so  little  to  be  had,  in  any  work,  on  the  direct  question  that  the 
massing  of  that  alone  would  scarcely  make  more  than  a  gen- 
erous leaflet.  The  entire  literature  about  it  is  busily  and  volu- 
minously occupied  with  something  else.  If  the  foregoing 
sketch  is  vague  it  is  so  because  the  whole  original  picture  is 
vague,  the  outlines  dim,  the  features  blurred.  The  only  thing 
sharply  drawn  and  positive  about  it  is  here  and  there  a  sharp 
and  very  positive  squint.  The  vagueness  is  historical.  It 
stretches  all  along  the  line.  It  is  the  leading  characteristic  of 
the  subject.  The  study  of  Inspiration  is  like  a  pursuit  of  the 
will-o'-the-wisp,  a  flickering  and  wandering  light  in  the  dank 
and  swampy  regions  of  controversy.  The  effort  to  grasp  it  is 
like  an  effort  to  grasp  the  subtle  and  universal  ether.  There 
is  no  authoritative  theory  about  it  in  Catholic  Christendom. 
The  language  that  defines  it  is,  and  has  ever  been,  purely 
personal  and  private.  The  definitions,  like  the  persons  who 
define,  are  all  irresponsible  to  history  and  the  universal  con- 
science. The  earlier  ones  are  obsolete  in  the  presence  of 
modern  learning.  They  have  passed  from  the  scientific  view. 
The  verbal,  mechanical,  plenary,  and  dynamical  have  been 
melted  into  one,  which  is  called  traditional,  perhaps  because 
it  is  such  a  deliciously  indefinite  term  to  apply  to  such  a  deli- 
cious cluster  of  confusions.  The  latest  theory,  the  inductive,  is 
only  the  speculation  and  the  term  of  a  coterie  of  theologians. 
However  popular  it  may  be,  or  may  become,  the  gentlemen 
who  conceived  it  have  never  received  divine  authority  or  eccle- 
siastical commission  to  fix  it  everlastingly  upon  the  Church  of 
God. 


68  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

The  word  "  inspiration  "  is  itself  vague,  mystical,  elusive. 
The  great  body  of  believers  do  not  know  its  meaning,  and 
cannot  tell,  exactly.  The  numerous  theologians  explain  it  in 
so  great  a  variety  of  ways  that  the  common  mind  is  puzzled 
and  mystified,  and  becomes  guilty  of  the  suspicion  that  even 
the  theologians  cannot  tell,  exactly.  Moreover,  the  word  is 
not  adjudicated.  Therefore  no  man  is  bound  by  the  definition 
of  another.  And  every  man  has  a  certain  liberty  to  define  it 
for  himself,  if  he  is  hungry  and  thirsty  for  a  definition.     Stand 

I  solidly  upon  the  word,  and  no  human  soul,  or  congregation  of 
souls,  has  the  right  to  force  you  from  your  strong  foundation, 
or  wring  another  syllable  of  confession  from  your  lips.     In- 

\  dulge  in  wide,  circuitous  excursions  of  the  mental  faculties,  or 
wander  amid  a  wilderness  of  tangled  romances,  about  its  infinite 
suggestion,  but  all  the  while  cling  resolutely  to  the  wo?'d,  and 
you  can  never  be  convicted  of  heresy.  Literally  speaking,  it 
means  an  inbreathing,  from  the  Latin  in  and  spiro,  to  breathe 
into.  T/ieopietistos,  the  Greek  adjective  which  St.  Paul,  in  the 
famous  passage  in  one  of  his  Epistles  to  Timothy,1  applied  to 
Scripture,  means  inbreathed-of-God.  It  is  from  T/ieos,  God, 
and  pneo,  to  blow  or  breathe.  To  say  "  inspiration  "  in  the 
Christian  sense  is  an  abbreviated  way  of  saying  inspiration-of- 
God.  Inspiration  in  the  Christian  sense,  therefore,  is  the 
blowing  of  the  breath  of  God.  And  the  man  or  the  book 
which  is  inspired  is  the  man  or  the  book  into  which  God  has 
blown  His  breath.  But  God  is  not  corporeal.  He  has  no 
breath.  He  does  not  blow.  The  expressions  are  anthropo- 
morphic and  metaphorical.  The  word  "inspiration"  is  a 
metaphor.  And  viewing  its  sober  and  its  sombre  history,  one 
might  echo  the  apposite  irony  of  the  farcical  wit  which  said 
that  "  figures  of  speech  are  the  pillars  of  the  Church."  Sagely 
and  solemnly,  without  the  flicker  of  a  smile  upon  their  be- 
clouded faces,  which  might  reveal  some  faint  suspicion  of  the 
poor  humor  of  their  undertaking,  for  nineteen  centuries,  sum- 
moning all  ancient  and  modern  wisdom  to  aid  them  in  their 

1  II.  Tim.  iii.  16. 


HIS  FRIEXDS.  69 

task,  men  have  been  struggling  to  convert  a  metaphor  into  an 
exact  theological  term.  If  they  have  failed,  is  not  the  nature 
of  their  undertaking  the  clear  and  irresistible  explanation  of 
the  failure  ?  A  sketch  of  the  history  of  Inspiration  is  incon- 
clusive !  Yes,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  it  must  be  so.  The 
history  itself  is  inconclusive.  The  facts  are  inconclusive.  The 
striking  and  utter  difficulty  of  conclusions,  the  widespread  and 
radical  differences  in  the  long  catalogue  of  opinions,  the  utter 
absence  of  any  conclusion  on  the  part  of  the  Catholic  Church 
of  all  ages,  the  deep  silence  of  the  Book  of  God  itself,  are  the 
insuperable  facts  which  stand  in  unbroken  array  along  the 
whole  vista  of  the  centuries. 

But  the  lack  of  definitions  does  not  blind  us  to  the  essential 
truth.  Behind,  and  overtowering  and  overshadowing  the  his- 
tory of  doctrine,  the  failures  of  human  wisdom,  the  confusions 
of  controversy,  and  the  inaccuracies  of  a  book,  there  is  a 
power  greater  than  all  metaphor,  which  wins  the  wonder  and 
allegiance  of  the  soul.  That  was  a  happy  faith,  in  ancient 
times,  which  made  men  feel  that  signal  talents  were  the  direct 
gift  of  God.  That  was  a  reverent  belief  among  the  heathen 
that  the  poet  was  inspired,  the  sculptor,  the  painter,  the  dash- 
ing general,  the  brilliant  and  victorious  king.  The  genius 
came  not  by  the  slow  course  of  nature,  but  by  the  swift  su- 
premacy and  interposition  of  the  Deity.  In  this  faith  the  Jew 
and  Gentile  were  united.  But  the  Jew  was  ever  "peculiar." 
In  his  belief  it  was  not  the  secular,  but  the  sacred  faculty 
which  came  from  God.  Inspiration  was  religious.  It  was 
not  the  poet  per  se,  nor  the  artist,  who  was  inspired,  but  the 
prophet,  or  the  priest,  or  the  psalmist.  When  the  prophet  was 
seized  with  powerful  religious  feeling  he  believed  he  was  in- 
spired. When  the  feeling  burst  forth  into  words  he  believed 
that  the  inspiration  had  passed  into  his  speech.  When  his  soul 
was  visited  with  a  high  thought  he  believed  it  came  from  God. 
Where  else  could  it  come  from  ?  God  spoke  to  him.  Who 
else  could  have  spoken  thus  divinely  ?  The  prophet  could  not 
see  that  the  lofty,  spiritual  visions  of  his  soul  sprang  out  of 


70  THE  BREATH  OF  G0Dt 

the  dusty  soil.  He  could  not  see  that  they  were  born  of  man 
in  his  degradation  and  sin.  They  must  have  come  from  God. 
There  was  no  other  source  for  such  sublime  ideas.  God  must 
have  spoken,  because  the  thoughts  were  turned  to  words,  and 
such  words  were  never  human.  And  as  the  prophet  warned 
and  pleaded  with  the  people,  he  poured  forth  the  torrent  of 
his  own  powerful  conviction  that  God  had  spoken  when  he 
said,  "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts."  There  was  within  him 
a  force  not  terrestrial.  It  came  from  the  ineffable  heights. 
It  was  a  power  for  truth  and  righteousness  with  which  God 
invested  the  prophets  and  The  Book. 

So,  in  the  high  simplicity  of  this  thought,  to  turn  to  the  evi- 
dences of  Inspiration  is  a  more  grateful  task  than  sketching 
the  history  of  criticism. 

i .  The  universal  conviction  of  prophets  and  writers  that  they 
were  inspired  is  one  of  the  most  striking  and  impressive  lines 
of  evidence.  From  Moses  to  John  there  is  the  same  note, 
gathering  strength  along  the  centuries,  until  at  last  it  has 
burst  into  a  unison  that  fills  the  ages.  Too  often  to  be  enu- 
merated here  are  the  cries,  "Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts," 
"  The  word  of  the  Lord  came,"  "  Hear  ye  the  word  of  the 
Lord."  And  often  it  is  apparently  against  the  prophets' 
wills.  They  feel  themselves  impelled  by  a  divine  constraint. 
Moses  urges  that  he  is  "slow  of  speech  and  of  tongue." 
Isaiah  cries,  "  Woe  is  me  !  for  I  am  undone ;  because  I  am  a 
man  of  unclean  lips."  Jeremiah  exclaims,  "  Ah,  Lord  God  ! 
behold,  I  cannot  speak ;  for  I  am  a  child."  Ezekiel  is  warned 
that  "  briers  and  thorns  "  will  be  with  him,  and  that  he  will 
"dwell  among  scorpions."  Amos  declares  that  he  was  "no 
prophet,"  neither  "  a  prophet's  son,"  but  "  a  herdman,  and  a 
gatherer  of  sycamore  fruit " ;  yet  "  the  Lord  took  "  him,  and 
said,  "  Go,  prophesy."  They  all  have  a  consciousness  that 
the  "  Spirit  "  is  upon  them,  and  that  consciousness  is  accorded 
them  by  others :  "  The  Lord  said  unto  Moses,  Write  this  for 
a  memorial  in  a  book;"  "And  Moses  wrote  their  goings  out 
according  to   their   journeys   by   the    commandment   of  the 


HIS  FRIENDS.  71 

Lord;"  "This  word  came  unto  Jeremiah  from  the  Lord,  say- 
ing, Take  thee  a  roll  of  a  book,  and  write  therein  all  the  words 
that  I  have  spoken  unto  thee."  David  says  :  "  The  Spirit  of  the 
Lord  spake  by  me,  and  His  word  was  in  my  tongue;"  Micah 
says:  "I  am  full  of  power  by  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord;"  John 
says :  "  He  saith  unto  me,  These  are  the  true  sayings  of  God." 
And  t|ie.  in.-spir.-it ion  of  the  prophets  is  abundantly  granted 
Jfi  ^f  New  Testament^  Says  St.  Paul :  "  Well  spake  the  Holy 
Ghost  by  Esaias  the  prophet."  "  Every  Scripture  inspired  of 
God  is  profitable."  Says  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews :  "  God, 
who  at  sundry  times  and  in  divers  manners  spake  in  time  past 
unto  the  fathers  by  the  prophets."  Again  :  "  Wherefore  as  the 
Holy  Ghost  saith,  .  .  .  They  shall  not  enter  into  my  rest;" 
"The  Holy  Ghost  this  signifying;"  "The  Holy  Ghost  also  is 
a  witness  to  us."  Christ  himself  said  :  "  David  himself  said  by 
the  Holy  Ghost."  And  thus  is  the  New  Testament  replete 
with  testimony  to  the  Old,  and  the  New  Testament  writers 
continually  express  the  same  consciousness  of  the  Spirit  in 
themselves  and  the  Church  as  those  of  the  Old.  St.  Luke, 
in  Acts,  says  of  Stephen :  "  They  were  not  able  to  resist  the 
wisdom  and  the  spirit  by  which  he  spake."  Agabus  begins  his 
prophecy  with  "  Thus  saith  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  Apostolic 
Council  says  :  "  It  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost  and  to  us." 
St.  Peter  says :  "  We  are  witnesses  of  these  things,  and  so  is  also 
the  Holy  Ghost."  Again  :  "  Holy  men  of  God  spake  as  they 
were  moved  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  St.  Paul  says :  "  I  have 
received  of  the  Lord  that  which  also  I  delivered  unto  you;" 
"Which  things  also  we  speak,  not  in  the  words  which  man's 
wisdom  teacheth,  but  which  the  Holy  Ghost  teacheth;" 
"Unto  the  married  I  command,  yet  not  I,  but  the  Lord;" 
"I  think  also  that  I  have  the  Spirit  of  God;"  "If  any  man 
think  himself  to  be  a  prophet,  or  spiritual,  let  him  acknowledge 
that  the  things  that  I  write  unto  you  are  the  commandments 
of  the  Lord."  St.  John  says  that  he  was  "  in  the  Spirit."  But 
supreme  in  their  testimony  arc  the  promises  and  assurances  of 
Jesus  Christ :  "  It  is  not  ye  that  speak,  but  the  Spirit  of  your 


\. 


72  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

Father  which  speaketh  in  you;"  "  I  will  pray  the  Father,  and 
He  shall  give  you  another  Comforter,  that  He  may  abide  with 
you  forever;  even  the  Spirit  of  truth;"  "When  He,  the  Spirit 
of  truth,  is  come,  He  will  guide  you  into  all  truth :  .  .  .  He 
will  show  you  things  to  come.  ...  He  shall  take  of  mine, 
and  shall  show  it  unto  you  ;"  "  Lo,  I  am  with  you  alway,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world." 

2.  The  New  Testament  refers  to  the  Old  as  though  its  pro- 
phecies could  not fail,  and  points  to  their  fulfilment.  It  refers  to 
the  Old  as  having  the  highest  authority.  St.  Matthew  says : 
"  Now  all  this  was  done,  that  it  might  be  fulfilled  which  was 
spoken  of  the  Lord  by  the  prophet,  saying,  Behold,  a  virgin 
shall  be  with  child,  and  shall  bring  forth  a  son."  St.  Luke 
says :  "  All  the  prophets  from  Samuel  and  them  that  followed 
after,  as  many  as  have  spoken,  they  also  told  of  these  days." 
In  like  terms  the  prophets  are  mentioned  in  a  multitude  of 
instances.  St.  Luke  in  the  Gospel 1  and  in  Acts,  2  St.  Paul  in 
II.  Corinthians,3  the  apostles  in  council,4  speak  of  Moses  and 
the  law  as  though  the  law  was  final ;  and  Christ  also  speaks  of 
the  law5  of  Moses  and  the  book6  of  Moses  as  of  divine 
authority.  SS.  Philip,7  Peter,8  Stephen,9  and  Paul,10  as  also 
Christ n  Himself,  speak  of  Moses  as  a  prophet  who  wrote  of 
Christ.  The  divine  Teacher  repeatedly  emphasizes  the  power 
and  divinity  of  the  Scriptures :  "  Ye  do  err,  not  knowing  the 
Scriptures,  nor  the  power  of  God  ;"  "  They  are  they  which  tes- 
tify of  Me;"  "  All  things  which  are  written  in  the  law  of  Moses, 
and  the  prophets,  and  the  psalms,  concerning  Me  ;"  "  This  that 
is  written  must  yet  be  accomplished  in  Me  ;"  "  Beginning  from 
Moses  and  from  all  the  prophets,  He  interpreted  to  them  in  all 
the  Scriptures  the  things  concerning  Himself ;"  "  Did  ye  never 
read  in  the  Scriptures,  The  stone  which  the  builders  rejected, 
the  same  is  become  the  head  of  the  corner ;  "  "  This  is  he  of 

1  Luke  xxiv.  27.  2  Acts  xxviii.  23.  3  II.  Cor.  iii.  15. 

4  Acts  xv.  21.  5  John  vii.  23.  6  Mark  xii.  26. 

7  John  i.  45.  8  Acts  iii.  22-24.  9  Acts  vii.  37. 

10  Acts  xxvi.  22.  n  John  v.  46,  47. 


II IS  FRIENDS.  73 

whom  it  is  written,  Behold,  I  send  My  messenger  before  thy 
face,  which  shall  prepare  thy  way  before  thee;"  "The  Scrip- 
ture cannot  be  broken;"  "Verily  I  say  unto  you,  Till  heaven 
and  earth  pass  one  jot  or  one  tittle  shall  in  no  wise  pass  from 
the  law,  till  all  be  fulfilled."  [/ 

3.  The  Scriptures  prophesy,  and  the  prophecies  are  fulfilled. 
Long  before  there  was  any  danger  to  the  northern  and  south- 
ern kingdoms  Isaiah  prophesied  their  downfall.  He  tells  how 
at  first  Jerusalem  shall  be  threatened  with  an  army,  and  the 
threat  shall  be  removed :  "  Woe  to  Ariel,  to  Ariel,  the  city 
where  David  dwelt !  .  .  .  I  will  camp  against  thee  round 
about,  and  will  lay  siege  against  thee  with  a  mount,  and  I  will 
raise  forts  against  thee.  And  thou  shalt  be  brought  down, 
and  shalt  speak  out  of  the  ground.  .  .  .  Moreover  the  multi- 
tude of  thy  strangers  shall  be  like  small  dust,  and  the  multi- 
tude of  the  terrible  ones  as  chaff  that  passeth  away  :  yea,  it  shall 
be  at  an  instant  suddenly.  .  .  .  And  the  multitude  of  all  the 
nations  that  fight  against  Ariel,  even  all  that  fight  against  her 
and  her  munition,  and  that  distress  her,  shall  be  as  a  dream  of 
a  night  vision."1  The  sequel,  the  fulfilment,  is  found  in  the 
history  of  Sennacherib :  "  Then  the  angel  of  the  Lord  went 
forth,  and  smote  in  the  camp  of  the  Assyrians  a  hundred  and 
fourscore  and  five  thousand.  ...  So  Sennacherib  king  of  As- 
syria departed."  2  Again,  the  prophet  predicts  the  captivity  a 
hundred  and  fifty  years,  before  it  occurred :  "  Behold,  the  days 
come,  that  all  .  .  .  shall  be  carried  to  Babylon  :  nothing  shall 
be  left.  .  .  .  And  .  .  .  thy  sons  .  .  .  shall  they  take  away ;  and 
they  shall  be  eunuchs  in  the  palace  of  the  king  of  Babylon."  3 
Micah  predicts  the  same  disaster.4  Nahum  5  foretold  the  de- 
struction of  Nineveh  a  hundred  and  fifteen  years  before  the 
event.  And  of  Tyre  6  it  was  foretold  that  she  should  be  "  a 
rock  for  the  spreading  of  nets";  and  that  Israel7  should  be 
"  scattered    among    the  nations,"   and   Jerusalem 8    "  trodden 

1  Isa.  xxix.  1-7.  2  Isa.  xxxvii.  36,  37.  3  Isa.  xxxix.  6,  7. 

4  Micah  ii.  10.  5  Nahum,  ii.,  iii.  6  Ezek.  xxvi.  5. 

7  Zech.  vii.  14.  8  Luke  xxi.  24. 


74  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD, 

down  by  the  Gentiles."  "Who  as  I,"  saith  the  Lord,  "  de- 
clareth  the  thing  that  shall  be?  " 

f\\The  Scriptures  contain  most  solemn  warnings  against  the 
mutilation  of  their  message.  It  is  true  that  such  expressions 
were  not  framed  after  the  entire  body  of  the  Scriptures  were 
written  and  bound  up  together,  but  they  seem  to  voice  a  senti- 
ment which  is  applicable  to  the  Scriptures  as  a  whole  :  "  What 
thing  soever  I  command  you,  observe  to  do  it:  thou  shalt 
not  add  thereto,  nor  diminish  from  it;"1  "Every  word  of 
God  is  pure.  .  .  .  Add  thou  not  unto  His  words,  lest  He  reprove 
thee,  and  thou  be  found  a  liar;"  2  "  I  testify  unto  every  man 
that  heareth  the  words  of  the  prophecy  of  this  book,3  If  any 
man  shall  add  unto  them,  God  shall  add  unto  him  the  plagues 
which  are  written  in  this  book:  and  if  any  man  shall  take 
away  from  the  words  of  the  book  of  this  prophecy,  God  shall 
take  awray  his  part  from  the  tree  of  life,  and  out  of  the  holy 
city,  which  are  written  in  this  book.  He  which  testineth  these 
things  saith,  Yea  :  I  come  quickly." 

And  thus  suddenly  we  are  at  the  end  of  the  evidence  of  In- 
spiration just  as  we  enter  its  threshold.  That  Israel  and 
Christendom  have  ever  believed  the  Bible  to  be  the  Book  of 
God,  and  that  the  Bible  so  thinks  of  itself,  is  the  only  direct 
\ testimony  that  we  have  of  the  fact  of  Inspiration.  Whatever 
''the  miracles  of  past  ages  sealing  the  dealings  and  sayings  of 
God  with  men ;  whatever  of  Burning  Bush,  or  Dewy  Fleece, 
or  Pillar  of  Fire,  or  Shechinah  of  Glory,  or  Voice  of  Thunder, 
in  the  centuries  gone ;  whatever  pitiful  yet  august  Power  in 
the  Redeemer's  healing  of  the  sick  and  raising  of  the  dead ; 
whatever  the  unspeakable  might  and  transcendent  mastery  of 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  the  Most  High  God,  the  tide  of  time 
has  left  them  in  the  region  of  distant  history.  The  bar  of 
temporal  limitations  has  been  stretched  across  them.  The 
Book  has  come  since.  They  never  spoke  directly  of  the  Book. 
They  stood  in  the  realm  of  incident  and  event,  and  there  they 
linger  even  for  ever  and  ever.     The  Book  is  in  the  realm  of 

1  Deut.  xii.  32.  2  Prov.  xxx.  5,  6.  8  Rev.  xxii.  18-20. 


HIS  FRIEXDS.  75 

literature.  Jesus  never  said  that  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments complete  were  inspired,  dictated  of  God  throughout 
their  borders  from  leaf  to  cover.  The  skies  were  never  opened 
and  the  proclamation  issued.  We  cannot  step  back  into  the 
presence  of  the  brilliant  visions  of  the  ancient  saints;  we 
cannot  see  them  in  their  divine  frenzies,  and  watch  the  move- 
ment of  the  heavenly  pens,  and  trace  the  dumb  vicissitudes  of 
manuscripts.  And  therefore  Inspiration  is  nowhere  made  an 
article  of  the  faith.  That  such  a  thing  exists  and  has  existed 
through  the  stream  of  centuries  is  evident.  But  let  us  never 
blink  at  the  truth.  Let  no  fondness  for  phraseology  ever 
intoxicate  our  reason  and  blind  us  to  the  verities.  Let  no 
fanatical  fidelity  make  us  insist  on  terms  and  definitions  which 
are  not  explicitly  revealed.  Let  us  not,  as  theologians  or  as 
Christians,  confuse  or  lead  astray  the  millions  of  mankind,  or 
impose  upon  their  consciences  a  word  of  man.  It  were  better 
to  blot  the  word  "  inspiration  "  from  theology  and  the  diction- 
ary. It  has  come,  alas  !  to  stand  too  often  and  too  long  for 
temporary  or  local  or  personal  definitions.  Every  fanatic  or 
zealot  would  foist  his  own  opinions  on  the  public  and  fain 
make  them  believe  that  they  are  Inspiration.  The  wisest  de- 
fine not.  The  greatest  define  not.  So  the  divine  Being  Him- 
self, which  is  enough.  So  the  divine  body — the  Church — 
which  overshadows  while  it  embraces  the  individuals  of  the 
Catholic  universe,  "angels  and  living  saints  and  dead."  The 
Catholic  creeds  have  never  given  us  a  definition — neither  the 
decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  nor  the  Articles  of  the  An- 
glican Church,  nor  the  formularies  of  the  Lutheran  commu- 
nion. Inspiration  is  an  atmosphere,  not  a  technicalism.  It  is 
assumed,  not  stated ;  assumed  because  a  patent  fundamental 
to  divine  truth,  and  because  of  the  awful  and  irresistible  expe- 
rience and  witness  of  the  spiritual  faculties  of  man  in  every 
age  of  human  history.  Thus  undefined,  the  Prayer-book 
mentions  it:  "The  inspiration  of  His  Spirit;"1  "Come,  Holy 
Ghost,  our  souls  inspire  j  "  2  "  Grant  .  .  .  that  by  Thy  holy  in- 

i  Art.  XIII.  2  Veni  Creator. 


76  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

spiration  we  may  think  those  things  that  are  good ;"  *  "  Cleanse 
the  thoughts  of  our  hearts  by  the  inspiratio?i  of  Thy  Holy 
Spirit;"2  "Beseeching  Thee  to  inspire  continually  the  uni- 
versal church."  3 

"  I  was  in  no  wise  called  upon  to  attempt  any  definition  of 
Inspiration,"  says  Archbishop  Tait,  in  his  pastoral  letter,  "  see- 
ing that  the  church  has  not  thought  fit  to  prescribe  one." 

"  The  church  has  laid  down,"  says  the  Archbishop  of  York, 
in  his  pastoral  letter,  "no  theory  of  Inspiration;  she  has 
always  had  in  her  bosom  teachers  of  at  least  two  different 
theories." 

"  We  heartily  concur  with  the  majority  of  our  opponents," 
says  the  Bishop  of  Gloucester  and  Bristol,  "in  rejecting  all 
theories  of  Inspiration."4 

"  Let  us  beware,"  says  Dean  Burgon,  "  how  we  commit 
ourselves  to  any  theories  of  Inspiration  whatever."  5 

"  Our  church,"  says  Bishop  Thirlwall,  "  has  never  attempted 
to  determine  the  nature  of  the  Inspiration  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture."6 

"  If  you  ask  me,"  says  Dr.  Cotton,  Bishop  of  Calcutta,  "  for 
a  precise  theory  of  Inspiration,  I  confess  that  I  can  only  urge 
you  to  repudiate  all  theories,  to  apply  to  theology  the  maxim 
which  guided  Newton  in  philosophy,  hypotheses  non  Jingo,  and 
to  rest  your  teaching  upon  the  facts  which  God  has  made 
known  to  us."  7 

"  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,"  says  the  Quarterly  Review, 
"  that  the  Church  Universal  has  never  given  any  definition  of 
Inspiration."  8 

"  It  seems  pretty  generally  agreed,"  says  the  Bishop  of 
Winchester,  "  that  definite  theories  of  Inspiration  are  doubtful 
and  dangerous."  9 

1  Col.  5th  Sunday  after  Easter.  2  Col.  Communion  Service. 

3  Prayer  for  the  Church  Militant.  4  Aids  to  Faith,  p.  404. 

5  Pastoral  Office,  p.  58.  6  Charge,  1863,  p.  107. 

7  Charge,  1863,  p.  69.  8  April,  1864,  p.  560. 

9  Aids  to  Faith,  p.  303. 


VIII. 

HIS    DIVINITY. 

"  My  crown  is  in  my  heart,  not  on  my  head." 

AND  so,  it  may  be  repeated,  we  stand  upon  the  threshold 
JTx.  of  evidence  just  as  we  have  reached  its  conclusion — as 
the  mocking-bird  stands  upon  the  threshold  of  melody  when 
it  has  sung  its  first  song  in  the  night,  and  the  song  is  done ; 
as  the  lover  is  only  beginning  a  life  of  devoted  proof  when 
he  has  burst  into  the  rapturous  declaration,  "  Behold,  thou  art 
fair,  my  love ;  there  is  no  spot  in  thee."  It  is  in  its  super- 
natural, superhuman,  divine  ideas  that  the  Scripture  shows 
itself  to  be  from  God.  It  is  as  a  piece  of  literature  so  far  sur- 
passing all  other  fruits  of  letters  that  everything  else  is  driven 
out  of  comparison.  It  dwarfs  all  other  books.  It  makes 
them  dwindle  into  insignificance.  It  contains  the  most  en- 
during laws,  the  most  dramatic  and  vivid  pictures  of  human 
character,  the  most  graphic  narrative,  the  sublimest  poetry,  the 
most  powerful  oratory.  We  call  some  men  immortal  because 
they  live  in  the  honor  of  posterity.  But  where  are  Justinian 
and  Solon  in  comparison  with  Moses  ?  Where  are  Homer  and 
Virgil  in  comparison  with  Isaiah  ?  And  how  shall  Tennyson 
venture  into  the  presence  of  David  ?  The  mighty  Shakespeare, 
we  are  poetically  told,  "  kissed  all  the  shores  of  thought." 
But  how  shall  all  his  sayings  stand  the  flashing  genius  and 
profound  wisdom  of  Solomon  and  all  the  prophets  ?  Was 
ever  human  nature  so  pictured  and  portrayed  in  every  motive 
of  the  heart  and  every  movement  of  the  life  as  in  the  Book 
of  Psalms  ?    The  secrets  of  the  soul  are  there  laid  bare.    The 

77 


7 8  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

springs  of  human  thought  and  feeling  are  there  uncovered. 
Let  any  man  of  any  condition  at  any  time  pick  up  at  random 
that  marvellous  collection  of  songs,  and  there  he  will  find  the 
echo  of  his  transitory  thought  and  there  the  image  of  his 
deepest  feeling.  Was  drama  ever  so  loftily  conceived  and  so 
masterly  sketched,  and  written,  as  it  were,  "  with  an  iron  pen 
in  the  rock  forever,"  as  the  drama  of  the  Book  of  Job  ?  Of 
all  the  books  that  have  ever  been  written,  says  Carlyle  the 
seer,  the  Book  of  Job  shall  become,  as  time  goes  on,  and 
history  is  unfolded,  and  men  grow  into  more  vivid  intellectual 
life  and  spiritual  apprehension,  "all  men's  book."  Its  stage  is 
the  universe ;  its  setting  is  the  spheres ;  its  passion  is  of  the 
heart  of  all  humanity ;  its  philosophy  is  from  eternity  ;  its  spirit 
is  from  the  four  great  winds ;  its  inspiration  is  of  God.  And 
as  for  pictures,  neither  Raphael  nor  Correggio  nor  Vandyke 
nor  Titian  ever  painted  with  so  swift  or  sure  a  hand  as  did 
those  artists  of  the  olden  time,  those  masters  of  their  craft, 
who  drew  the  pictures  of  prophets  and  of  kings  to  hang  in 
the  world's  gallery  forever.  The  delineators  of  human  char- 
acter, whose  names  have  been  enrolled  in  the  great  academy 
of  the  hearts  of  millions,  are  happy  in  their  fame  and  love. 
So  we  honor  for  their  genius,  and  we  love  for  the  stories  they 
have  told,  the  great  dramatist  of  Stratford,  the  new  creator  of 
"  Vanity  Fair,"  the  father  of  Copperfield  and  Pickwick,  the 
"  Wizard "  of  Rebecca  and  Meg  Merrilies,  the  men  across 
the  stormy  Channel  who  have  given  us  "  Les  Miserables,"  the 
"  Comedie  Humaine,"  and  "The  Downfall."  But  the  men 
who  have  given  us  Abraham  and  Joseph  and  Moses  and 
David ;  the  men  who  have  drawn  Elijah  and  Isaiah ;  who 
have  delineated  Peter  and  John  and  Paul ;  who  have  sketched 
with  exquisite  touch  the  gentle  figures  of  Ruth  and  Mary ; 
who  have  told  us  the  pitiful  vet  precious  story  of  the  Magda- 
len— these  are  the  Immortals  of  immortals.  With  few  and 
telling  strokes  the  living  figures  have  risen  under  the  divinely 
guided  pen.  Saul  is  there — in  their  peopled  pages — in  his 
majesty  and  madness ;  and  Esther  in  her  beauty  and  her  pas- 


HIS  DIVINITY.  79 

sion.  Judas  is  there  in  his  treachery  and  despair.  Jonathan 
is  there  in  his  gentle  love  and  unfailing  loyalty ;  and  Cornelius 
the  centurion,  whose  prayers  and  alms  had  made  an  incense 
before  the  Jehovah  of  all  nations.  And  "  time  would  fail  me 
to  tell  of  Gideon,  and  of  Barak,  and  of  Samson,  and  of  Jeph- 
thah ;  of  David  also,  and  Samuel,  and  of  the  prophets." 
Above  them  all,  and  overshadowing  all,  rises  the  gentle,  lus- 
trous, towering,  kingly  figure  of  the  "  Messiah  the  Prince," 
"cut  off"  "in  the  midst  of  His  days."  In  His  eyes  is  the 
love-light  for  the  penitent  sinner — "  Go,  and  sin  no  more." 
In  His  flashing  gaze  is  the  burning  of  judgment — "Woe  unto 
you,  scribes  and  Pharisees,  hypocrites  !  "  And  yet  "  His  visage 
is  marred  more  than  any  man,"  as  He  is  "wounded  for  our 
transgressions  "  and  "  bruised  for  our  iniquities  "  ;  and  yet  He  is 
"  fairer  than  the  children  of  men  " — the  "  King  in  His  beauty." 

Did  ever  one  look  into  such  a  land  of  giants  and  of  heroes! 
The  knights  of  Arthur  are  but  a  pale  reflection  of  attenuated 
myth  to  these  men  of  flesh  and  blood.  The  gods  of  the 
"  Iliad "  and  "  Odyssey "  are  but  ghostly  phantoms.  Go 
anywhere,  in  any  civilized  clime,  and  ask  any  man,  prince  or 
pauper,  priest  or  publican,  author,  statesman,  soldier,  scientist, 
What  is  the  greatest  book  that  was  ever  written  ?  There  is 
but  one  answer,  echoing  through  the  visionless  boundaries  of 
time :  the  Bible,  the  Book  of  God. 

"  What  a  Book  !  "  says  Heine  the  poet.  "  Vast  and  wide 
as  the  world,  rooted  in  the  abysses  of  creation,  and  towering 
up  beyond  the  blue  secrets  of  heaven.  Sunrise  and  sunset, 
promise  and  fulfilment,  life  and  death,  the  whole  drama  of 
humanity,  are  all  in  this  book!  Its  light  is  like  the  body  of 
the  heavens  in  its  clearness ;  its  vastness  like  the  bosom  of  the 
sea ;  its  variety  like  scenes  of  nature." 

Says  Professor  Conant:  "The  gnomic  poetry  of  the  most 
enlightened  of  other  nations  will  not  bear  comparison  with  it 
in  the  depth  and  certainty  of  its  foundation  principles,  or  in 
the  comprehensiveness  and  moral  grandeur  of  its  conceptions 
of  human  duty  and  responsibility." 


8o  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

Ewald :  "  In  this  Book,  in  this  Book  is  contained  all  the  wis- 
dom of  the  world." 

Andrew  Jackson :  "  That  Book  is  the  rock  on  which  our 
Republic  rests." 

"  I  fear  you  are  ill,"  said  Dr.  Latham  to  Faraday,  whom  he 
found  in  tears,  with  his  hand  resting  on  an  open  book.  "  It 
is  not  that,"  said  Faraday,  with  a  sob,  "  but  why  will  people 
go  astray  when  they  have  this  blessed  Book  to  guide  them  ?  " 

Theodore  Parker :  "  This  collection  of  books  has  taken  such 
a  hold  on  the  world  as  no  other.  The  literature  of  Greece, 
which  goes  up  like  incense  from  that  land  of  temples  and 
heroic  deeds,  has  not  half  the  influence  of  this  book.  It  goes 
equally  to  the  cottage  of  the  plain  man  and  the  palace  of  the 
king.  It  is  woven  into  the  literature  of  the  scholar  and  colors 
the  talk  of  the  streets." 

Professor  Huxley :  "  How  is  the  religious  feeling,  which  is 
the  essential  basis  of  conduct,  to  be  kept  up  in  the  present 
utterly  chaotic  state  of  opinion  .  .  .  without  the  use  of  the 
Bible  ?  The  pagan  moralists  lack  life  and  color,  and  even 
the  noble  Stoic,  Marcus  Antoninus,  is  too  high  and  refined  for 
an  ordinary  child.  By  the  study  of  what  other  book  could 
children  be  so  much  humanized  and  made  to  feel  that  each 
figure  in  the  vast  historical  procession  fills,  like  themselves,  but 
a  momentary  space  in  the  interval  between  two  eternities,  and 
earns  the  blessings  or  the  curses  of  all  time  according  to- its 
efforts  to  do  good  and  hate  evil  ?  " 

Hooker:  "There  is  scarcely  any  noble  part  of  knowledge 
worthy  the  mind  of  man  but  from  Scripture  it  may  have  some 
direction  and  light." 

Translators  of  161 1  :  "  If  we  be  ignorant,  the  Scriptures  will 
instruct  us ;  if  out  of  the  way,  they  will  bring  us  home ;  if  out 
of  order,  they  will  reform  us ;  if  in  heaviness,  comfort  us ;  if 
dull,  quicken  us ;  if  cold,  inflame  us.     Tolle,  lege.     Tolle,  lege." 

Why  is  it  so  ?  Why  this  unapproachable  superiority  ? 
Why  has  this  book  become,  as  it  has,  the  one  great  book  of 
humanity  for  all  the  ages   of  human  life — for  the  millions 


HIS  DIVINITY.  8 1 

dead  and  the  countless  millions  yet  to  come?  This  genius  of 
these  writers — is  it  hereditary  ?  God  pity  us,  then,  that  we 
have  not  its  pedigree  !  Is  it  the  evolution  of  literary  power, 
bursting  forth  at  the  consummation  of  the  ages  as  the  crown 
of  intellect,  the  perfect  flower  of  the  blossoming  vine  that  hath 
its  roots  in  the  primal  fountain  of  life  ?  God  pity,  then,  the 
degeneracy  of  these  days  !  Then  is  "  The  Rape  of  the  Lock  " 
but  the  lisp  of  numbers.  The  story  of  "  Childe  Harold  "  is 
only  the  prattling  of  an  infant.  "Lear"  and  "Hamlet"  are 
but  the  ravings  of  one  "  who  hath  no  speculation  in  his  eye," 
or  the  drivellings  of  "a  mind  diseased."  "The  Idyls  of  the 
King  "  are  only  idle  vaporings  of  a  pitiful  dreamer  who  hath 
not  sense  to  see  in  his  thin  verse  the  slow  decay  of  poesy. 
Galileo  and  Newton  are  wrecks  of  Joshua  and  Moses,  for 
neither  could  Galileo  conceive  that  the  sun  should  stand  still 
on  Gibeon,  nor  Newton  originate  the  idea  of  the  awful  Power 
that  would  throw  back  the  gravity  of  worlds,  and  brush  aside 
the  waters  of  the  deep  Red  Sea.  Oxford  and  Heidelberg  are 
but  the  grammar-schools  of  Jericho  and  Jerusalem,  and  the 
belles-lettres  of  Elizabeth  and  Victoria  are  primer  compositions 
to  those  of  Ezra,  Herod,  and  the  early  Caesars.  But  the  ages 
are  not  consummated.  Learning  is  increased.  Literature  is 
developing  to  its  triumphs  while  the  world  is  multiplying  its 
authors  and  constantly  raising  the  magnitude  of  its  stars  of 
genius.  Egypt  and  Babylonia  were  more  cultivated  than 
Judah ;  yet  nowhere  outside  of  Israel  in  the  ages  that 
brought  to  light  the  sacred  books  was  there  a  parallel  author- 
ship. The  Bible  is  unique  in  human  composition.  It  strikes 
the  law  of  mental  evolution  to  the  heart.  It  stands  forever 
as  a  divine  anachronism  in  literature.  Did  it  come  from 
man  ?  Then  the  men  were  not  men,  but  demigods — and 
more.  For  they  wrought  chaos  in  the  laws  of  human  thought. 
They  pulled  down  every  principle  of  human  composition, 
overthrew  the  edifice  of  natural  learning,  blotted  out  the  con- 
stellations in  the  literary  skies,  crushed  the  world  of  learning 
into  fragments,  and  launched  into  the  dim  abysses  of  space 


82 


THE  BREATH  OE  GOD. 


"new  heavens  and  a  new  earth."  They  "spake,  and  it  was 
done";  they  "commanded,  and  it  stood  fast."  Or  else  the 
Bible  is  a  miracle  of  sacred  thought  and  passion.  For  its 
thought  is  above  all  human  thought,  "  higher  than  the  heaven 
is  above  the  earth;"  and  its  passion  of  love  "passeth  know- 
ledge." 

It  hath  in  it  elements  that  pierce  the  soul.  It  is  full  of  God 
and  righteousness.  To  the  soul  of  man  in  his  ignorance,  his 
speculation  and  doubt  and  infidelity ;  to  the  soul  in  its  sor- 
row, its  wretchedness  and  sin ;  to  the  soul  in  its  longings  and 
thirstings  and  tremulous  aspirations ;  to  the  intellect  and  ge- 
nius of  mankind ;  to  the  mind  in  its  wealth  or  its  poverty ;  to 
every  man— there  is  none  left  out— to  his  deepest,  strongest, 
highest  nature,  in  his  weakest,  hopeless,  and  expiring  moments, 
it  speaks  of  God.  Before  his  frail  and  failing  body,  his  loss 
of  power  as  years  and  ailment  lay  their  awful  weight  upon 
him ;  before  the  endless  progression  of  change  which  he  wit- 
nesses in  himself  and  in  the  world,  as  youth  and  manhood 
deaden  into  decay,  as  friends  are  shifting  and  passing  away, 
and  dropping  out  of  life  and  into  silence ;  before  the  wrecks  of 
fortunes  and  the  overthrow  of  governments ;  before  the  sweep 
of  fashions  and  the  sway  of  new-born  theories,  amid  the  pass- 
ing panorama  of  the  whole  world's  restless  and  ever-changing 
history ;  before  the  fall  of  hopes  into  the  abyss  of  night,  and 
the  fall  of  the  heart's  beloved  into  the  fathomless  grave ;  be- 
fore the  blotting  out  of  worlds  which  thus  become  the  awful . 
prophecies  of  the  final  "crash  of  matter  and  the  wreck  of 
worlds,"  it  tells  of  God. 

'  Thou,  Lord,  in  the  beginning  hath  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth, 
And  the  heavens  are  the  works  of  thy  hands  : 
They  shall  perish  ;  but  thou  continuest : 
And  they  all  shall  wax  old  as  doth  a  garment ; 
And  as  a  mantle  shalt  thou  roll  them  up, 
As  a  garment,  and  they  shall  be  changed : 
But  thou  art  the  same, 
And  thy  years  shall  not  fail." 


HIS  DIVINITY.  83 

Among  all  the  theologies  of  man,  with  their  definitions  and 
formulas,  with  men  plunged  in  mysterious  longing  to  know 
God,  was  there  eve"  sublimer  and  more  comforting  idea  of 
Him  than  this: 

"Jehovah,  Jehovah,  a  God  full  of  compassion  and  gracious, 
slow  to  anger,  and  plenteous  in  mercy  and  truth ;  keeping  mercy 
for  thousands,  forgiving  iniquity  and  transgression  and  sin ;  and 
that  will  by  no  means  clear  the  guilty." 

"  Thus  saith  the  high  and  lofty  One  that  inhabiteth  eternity, 
whose  name  is  Holy :  I  dwell  in  the  high  and  lofty  place,  with 
him  also  that  is  of  a  contrite  and  humble  spirit,  to  revive  the 
spirit  of  the  humble,  and  to  revive  the  heart  of  the  contrite  one." 

"  For  thou  art  our  Father,  though  Abraham  knoweth  us  not, 
and  Israel  doth  not  acknowledge  us  :  thou,  O  Jehovah,  art  our 
Father;  our  Redeemer  from  everlasting  is  thy  name." 

"  Surely  he  hath  borne  our  griefs,  and  carried  our  sorrows: 
yet  we  did  esteem  him  stricken,  smitten  of  God,  and  afflicted. 
But  he  was  wounded  for  our  transgressions,  he  was  bruised  for 
our  iniquities  :  the  chastisement  of  our  peace  was  upon  him ; 
and  with  his  stripes  we  are  healed." 

Was  there  ever  any  gentler,  juster,  more  divine  law  than 
this,  in  the  Book  of  the  Covenant :  "Ye  shall  not  afflict  any 
widow,  or  fatherless  child.  If  thou  afflict  them  in  any  wise, 
and  they  cry  at  all  unto  me,  I  will  surely  hear  their  cry."  If 
a  neighbor's  garment  is  taken  in  pledge  it  must  be  returned 
before  sundown,  "for  it  is  his  only  covering:  .  .  .  wherein 
shall  he  sleep  ?  and  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  he  crieth 
unto  me,  that  I  will  hear ;  for  I  am  gracious."  Thus  it  is,  to 
the  weak  and  helpless,  the  stranger,  the  widow,  the  orphan,  the 
poor,  the  slave,  God's  law  is  ever  strong  and  tender.  So  says 
Professor  Huxley:  "The  Bible  has  been  the  Magna  Charta 
of  the  poor  and  of  the  oppressed ;  down  to  modern  times  no 
state  has  ever  had  a  constitution  in  which  the  interests  of  the 
people  are  so  largely  taken  into  account,  in  which  the  duties 
so  much  more  than  the  privileges  of  rulers  are  insisted  on,  as 
in  Deuteronomy  and  Leviticus ;  nowhere  is  the  fundamental 


84  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

truth  that  the  welfare  of  the  state  depends  on  the  uprightness 
of  the  citizen  so  strongly  laid  down."  * 

God's  warnings  are  clear  and  true  and  strong,  and  His  anger 
is  terrible,  but  His  judgments  are  tempered  with  mercy.  "His 
wrath  endureth  but  the  twinkling  of  an  eye ;  but  in  His  plea- 
sure is  life."  "  Mercy  and  truth  are  met  together;  righteous- 
ness and  peace  have  kissed  each  other." 

"  Ye  that  put  far  away  the  evil  day,  and  cause  the  seat  of  vio- 
lence to  come  near;  that  lie  upon  beds  of  ivory,  and  stretch 
themselves  upon  their  couches,  and  eat  the  lambs  out  of  the 
flock,  and  the  calves  out  of  the  midst  of  the  stall ;  that  sing  idle 
songs  to  the  sound  of  the  viol;  that  devise  for  themselves  in- 
struments of  music,  like  David ;  that  drink  wine  in  bowls,  and 
anoint  themselves  with  the  chief  ointments  :  but  they  are  not 
grieved  for  the  affliction  of  Joseph." 

"  Forasmuch  therefore  as  ye  trample  upon  the  poor,  and  take 
exactions  from  him  of  wheat :  ye  have  built  houses  of  hewn 
stone,  but  ye  shall  not  dwell  in  them;  ye  have  planted  pleasant 
vineyards,  but  ye  shall  not  drink  the  wine  thereof.  For  I  know 
how  manifold  are  your  transgressions  and  how  mighty  are  your 
sins ;  ye  that  afflict  the  just,  that  take  a  bribe,  and  that  turn 
aside  the  needy  in  the  gate  from  their  right." 

"  O  thou  seer,  go,  flee  thee  away  into  the  land  of  Judah,  and 
there  eat  bread,  and  prophesy  there ;  but  prophesy  not  again  any 
more  in  Bethel." 

"  Hear  the  word  of  the  Lord,  ye  children  of  Israel:  for  the 
Lord  hath  a  controversy  with  the  inhabitants  of  the  land,  because 
there  is  no  truth,  nor  mercy,  nor  knowledge  of  God  in  the  land. 
There  is  naught  but  swearing  and  breaking  faith,  and  killing, 
and  stealing,  and  committing  adultery;  they  break  out,  and 
blood  toucheth  blood." 

"  They  feed  on  the  sin  of  my  people,  and  set  their  heart  on 
their  iniquity.  And  it  shall  be,  like  people,  like  priest :  and  I 
will  punish  them  for  their  ways,  and  will  reward  them  their 
doings." 

"I  will  heal  their  backsliding,  I  will  love  them  freely:  for 
mine  anger  is  turned  away  from  him.  I  will  be  as  the  dew  unto 
Israel :  he  shall  blossom  as  the  lily,  and  cast  forth  his  roots  as 
Lebanon." 

1  Essays  on  Cont.  Ques.,  p.  52. 


II IS  DIVINITY.  85 

"  Let  the  wicked  forsake  his  way,  and  the  unrighteous  man 
his  thoughts  :  and  let  him  return  to  the  Lord,  and  he  will  have 
mercy  upon  him  ;  and  to  our  God,  for  he  will  abundantly  pardon. 
For  my  thoughts  are  not  your  thoughts,  neither  are  your  ways 
my  ways,  saith  the  Lord." 

The  ceremonial  law  was  of  infinite  detail.  Times  came 
when  it  overshadowed  the  homage  and  devoutness  of  the  soul, 
times  when  it  was  formal  and  empty.  But  never  was  there 
truer  and  loftier  spirit  of  worship  than  that  which  was  fostered 
by  this  very  code  of  the  priests.  Listen  while  the  harp  is 
struck  and  the  strains  come  to  us  from  the  sweet  singers  of 
Israel : 

"  How  amiable  are  thy  tabernacles,  O  Lord  of  hosts!  My 
soul  longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth  for  the  courts  of  the  Lord :  my 
heart  and  my  flesh  crieth  out  for  the  living  God." 

"  Like  as  the  hart  desireth  the  water-brooks,  so  longeth  my 
soul»after  thee,  O  God.  My  soul  is  athirst  for  God,  yea,  even 
for  the  living  God :  when  shall  I  come  to  appear  before  the 
presence  of  God  ?  .  .  .  I  pour  out  my  heart  by  myself ;  for  I  went 
with  the  multitude,  and  brought  them  forth  into  the  house  of 
God;  in  the  voice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving,  among  such  as 
keep  holy-day.  .  .  .  O  send  out  thy  light  and  thy  truth,  that  they 
may  lead  me,  and  bring  me  unto  thy  holy  hill,  and  to  thy  dwell- 
ing. And  that  I  may  go  unto  the  altar  of  God,  even  unto  the 
God  of  my  joy  and  gladness  ;  and  upon  the  harp  will  I  give 
thanks  unto  thee,  O  God  my  God." 

"What  is  there,"  says  one1  whose  name  is  a  watchword 
among  Christian  thinkers,  "...  which  the  Psalms  are  not 
able  to  teach  ?  Heroical  magnanimity,  exquisite  justice, 
grave  moderation,  exact  wisdom,  repentance  unfeigned,  un- 
wearied patience,  the  mysteries  of  God,  the  sufferings  of 
Christ,  the  terrors  of  wrath,  the  comforts  of  grace,  .  .  . 
Providence  over  this  world,  and  the  promised  joys  of  that 
world  which  is  to  come  ;  all  good  .  .  .  to  be  either  known,  or 
done,  or  had,  this  one  celestial  fountain  yieldeth."  Another,2 
one  of  the  greatest  geniuses  in  English  history,  says  of  David's 

1  Hooker,  E.  P.,  vol.  ii.,  p.  159. 

2  Hero- Worship,  Carlyle,  p.  75. 


86  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

history  in  the  Psalms:  "The  truest  emblem  eve.  given  of  a 
man's  moral  progress  and  warfare  here  below  .  .  .  the  faith- 
ful struggle  of  an  earnest  human  soul  toward  that  which  is 
good  and  best.  Struggle  often  baffled,  sore  baffled,  down  as 
into  wreck ;  yet  a  struggle  never  ended ;  ever  with  tears,  re- 
pentance, true  unconquerable  purpose,  begun  anew.  ...  Is 
not  man's  walking  in  truth  always  that :  a  '  succession  of 
falls '?  In  this  wild  element  of  life  he  has  to  struggle  onward ; 
now  fallen,  deep  abased  ;  and  ever  with  tears,  repentance,  with 
bleeding  heart,  he  has  to  rise  again,  struggle  again  still  on- 
ward." 

While  the  nations  round  about  Israel  were  steeped  in  idol- 
atry and  superstition;  while  they  were  engraving  perishable 
thoughts  on  imperishable  stone  and  clay ;  while  culture  was 
lavish  among  them,  and  Israel  was  a  new  kingdom,  with  a 
shepherd  lad  upon  the  throne,  such  as  these  were  the  immor- 
tal songs  of  her  people  : 

"  Have  mercy  on  me,  O  God,  after  thy  great  goodness;  ac- 
cording to  the  multitude  of  thy  mercies  do  away  mine  offences. 
Wash  me  throughly  from  my  wickedness,  and  cleanse  me  from 
my  sin.  For  I  acknowledge  my  faults,  and  my  sin  is  ever  be- 
fore me.  Against  thee  only  have  I  sinned,  and  done  this  evil 
in  thy  sight ;  that  thou  mightest  be  justified  in  thy  saying,  and 
clear  when  thou  art  judged.  .  .  .  Turn  thy  face  from  my  sins, 
and  put  out  all  my  misdeeds.  Make  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God, 
and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me.  Cast  me  not  away  from  thy 
presence,  and  take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me.  .  .  .  The  sac- 
rifice of  God  is  a  troubled  spirit :  a  broken  and  contrite  heart,  O 
God,  shalt  thou  not  despise." 

"  Praise  the  Lord,  O  my  soul :  and  all  that  is  within  me  praise 
his  holy  name.  Praise  the  Lord,  O  my  soul ;  and  forget  not  all 
his  benefits.  Who  forgiveth  all  thy  sin,  and  healeth  all  thine 
infirmities :  who  saveth  thy  life  from  destruction,  and  crowneth 
thee  with  mercy  and  loving-kindness.  .  .  .  The  Lord  is  full  of 
compassion  and  mercy,  long-suffering,  and  of  great  goodness. 
He  will  not  always  be  chicling;  neither  keepeth  he  his  anger 
forever.  He  hath  not  dealt  with  us  after  our  sins  :  nor  rewarded 
us  according  to  our  wickedness.  For  look  how  high  the  heaven 
is  in  comparison  to  the  earth :  so  great  is  his  mercy  also  toward 


HIS  DIVINITY.  87 

them  that  fear  him.  Look  how  wide  the  east  is  from  the  west : 
so  far  hath  he  set  our  sins  from  us.  Yea,  like  as  a  father  pitieth 
his  own  children,  even  so  is  the  Lord  merciful  unto  them  that 
fear  him.  For  he  knoweth  whereof  we  are  made :  he  remem- 
bereth  that  we  are  but  dust." 

"The  Lord  is  my  Shepherd;  therefore  can  I  lack  nothing. 
He  shall  feed  me  in  a  green  pasture,  and  lead  me  forth  beside 
the  waters  of  comfort.  He  shall  convert  my  soul,  and  bring 
me  forth  in  the  paths  of  righteousness  for  his  name's  sake.  Yea, 
though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death,  I  will 
fear  no  evil :  for  thou  art  with  me  ;  thy  rod  and  thy  staff  comfort 
me.  .  .  .  Thy  loving-kindness  and  mercy  shall  follow  me  all  the 
days  of  my  life :  and  I  will  dwell  in  the  house  of  the  Lord  for- 
ever." 

Rome  became  the  empire  of  law  and  of  statesmanship ; 
Greece  the  land  of  art,  of  culture,  of  philosophy;  but  Israel 
was  the  nation  of  the  highest  letters,  because  it  was  the  nation 
inspired  with  the  genius  of  righteousness.  Even  her  worldly 
wisdom,  her  sages  and  wise  men,  were  clothed  with  God : 
"  Behold,  the  fear  of  the  Lord,  that  is  wisdom ;  and  to  depart 
from  evil  is  understanding." 

"  The  Lord  possessed  me  in  the  beginning  of  his  way, 
Before  his  works  of  old. 

I  was  set  up  from  everlasting,  from  the  beginning, 
Or  ever  the  earth  was. 

When  there  were  no  depths,  I  was  brought  forth, 
When  there  were  no  fountains  abounding  with  water. 

There  was  I  by  him,  as  a  master  workman : 

And  I  was  daily  his  delight, 

Rejoicing  always  before  him ; 

Rejoicing  in  his  habitable  earth ; 

And  my  delight  was  with  the  sons  of  men." 

And  from  this  sublime  idea  there  grew  the  still  sublimer 
words :  "  In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was 
with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God.  ...  All  things  were 
made  by  Him ;  and  without  Him  was  not  anything  made  that 
hath  been  made.  In  Him  was  life ;  and  the  life  was  the  light 
of  men," 


IX. 

HIS    EXALTATION. 
"  The  purest  treasure  mortal  times  afford.' ' 

THE  Bible  tells  us  of  God  as  the  Living  God.  He  is  a 
Father,  a  Providence,  a  Deliverer;  He  is  the  Prince  of 
Peace,  the  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of  lords,  the  Saviour  and 
Redeemer.  It  gives  us  laws  that  are  as  enduring  as  time. 
It  furnishes  the  eternal  principles  of  righteousness,  showing 
that  right  is  right  and  wrong  is  wrong,  and  that  these  prin- 
ciples are  older  than  any  systems  or  any  laws  "written  and 
engraven  in  stones."  It  shows  that  back  of  priests  and  cere- 
monials, back  of  Moses  and  the  Mosaic  code,  back  of  Sinai 
and  the  two  tables,  there  is  law  stamped  upon  the  constitution 
of  the  earth,  written  among  the  blazing  constellations  of  the 
sky,  investing  the  heaving  waters  of  the  sea  and  the  trackless 
sands  of  the  desert  and  the  towering  mountain-ranges  ;  spread- 
ing through,  the  fair  blue  canopy  of  space  and  embracing  the 
worlds  and  ages ;  penetrating  and  filling  all  human  life  and  all 
other  life  from  the  first  monad  in  the  dim  beginnings  of  matter 
to  the  Crown  and  living  Prince  of  creation ;  a  law  springing 
out  of  the  fountain  of  the  Godhead,  written  among  the  eterni- 
ties— a  law  of  life  and  death,  of  hope  and  despair,  of  sin  and 
of  righteousness :  "The  wages  of  sin  is  death;"  "The  just 
shall  live  by  faith."  This  law  is  not  a  Hebrew  enactment.  It 
is  not  a  conceit  of  man.  It  is  not  a  miraculous  creation.  All 
that  the  Bible  tells  us  of  it  is  merely  the  expression,  the  an- 
nouncement to  bewildered  men,  of  the  verities  of  the  living 


HIS  EXALTATIOX.  89 

universe.  While  men  groped  and  stumbled  and  fell  the  light 
sinned,  and  then  men  saw  and  stood  trect  and  "walked  and 
leaped,  praising  God." 

2.  There  is  evil  in  the  world.  Yes,  the  Bible  sees  it,  and 
puts  it  down  upon  its  pages ;  and  it  doth  "  naught  extenuate." 
There  is  good  in  the  world,  yes,  infinite  good,  measureless, 
unfathomable  good  in  earth  and  sky,  and  the  Bible  crystallizes 
it,  stereotypes  it,  builds  it  into  its  eternal  pages,  that  it  may 
stand  a  towering  edifice  forever.  It  is  "  longer  than  the  earth, 
and  broader  than  the  sea."  Its  domes  and  pinnacles  stretch 
above  the  sky  and  are  hidden  to  man's  failing  vision  beyond 
the  clouds.  The  good  and  evil  are  forever  contending,  wres- 
tling, struggling.  Now  virtue  is  triumphant,  and  now  vice.  In 
the  whole  universe  of  souls  there  is  "  a  law  "  of  the  "  mem- 
bers," "  warring  against  "  and  sometimes  "leading  into  captiv- 
ity" the  "better"  and  "higher"  law  of  the  "mind."  There 
is  moral  disappointment  and  bitterness,  and  failure  and  dis- 
aster and  catastrophe,  from  without  and  from  within.  What 
does  it  mean  ?  How  shall  it  all  end  ?  It  is  the  great  prob- 
lem of  problems.  It  faces  men  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave. 
The  master  minds  of  all  centuries  have  wrestled  with  it,  and 
failed,  and  stood  dumb  and  blind  before  it.  It  has  defied 
analysis ;  it  has  wrecked  reason.  There  is  but  one  possible 
solution ;  one  only  that  does  not  annihilate  the  principles  of 
life  and  crush  to  atoms  the  foundations  of  the  worlds :  Good 
shall  triumph  finally.  Death  and  hell  shall  be  cast  into  the 
lake  of  fire.  The  dead  shall  burst  above  and  trample  under- 
foot the  grave.  God  "  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  out  all 
eyes."  "The  living,  the  living" — they  shall  stand  before 
God.     And  "the  Lord  God  omnipotent  reigneth." 

Thus  the  Bible  answers  the  "  riddle  of  the  ages,"  while  Job 
bows  himself  over  the  ash-heap  and  curses  the  day  that  he 
was  born ;  and  finally  surrenders  speculation,  and  launches 
out  once  more  into  the  boundless  ocean  of  thought  and  life, 
secure  in  the  ark  of  safety,  ribbed  about  with  the  divine 
words,  "  I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  He  will 


90  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

rise  over  the  dust  at  the  last.  And  after  they  have  thus  de- 
stroyed my  skin,  yet  out  of  my  flesh  shall  I  see  God :  whom 
I  shall  see  for  myself,  and  mine  eyes  shall  behold,  and  not 
another." 

3.  There  may  be  blemishes  in  the  Bible.  But  they  are 
history,  not  revelation.  They  do  not  besmear  the  volume 
from  leaf  to  cover.  There  are  blemishes  in  men,  but  we  do 
not  cast  them  all  into  the  pit.  They  are  still  the  crown  of  ter- 
restrial life,  the  princes  of  the  earth.  They  have  by  divine 
right  "dominion  over  the  beasts  of  the  field,  and  over  the 
fowls  of  the  air,  and  over  the  fishes  of  the  sea."  The  Canaan- 
ites  are  slaughtered ;  but  "  the  soul  that  sinneth,  it  shall  die." 
David  stole  away  his  neighbor's  wife  and  slew  her  husband  in 
the  "  forefront  of  the  battle  " ;  but  high  above  the  iniquities 
of  the  sinning  poet  sound  the  rolling  voices  of  Sinai :  "  Thou 
shalt  not  kill,  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery." 

Ecclesiastes  may  be  cynical  at  times,  but  out  of  his  cynicism 
grows  the  deep  conviction  of  another  life  where  right  is  tri- 
umphant. Out  of  it  comes  the  tender  warning,  full  of  beauty 
and  of  power :  "  Remember  now  thy  Creator  in  the  days  of 
thy  youth."  Out  of  it  comes  the  sublime  and  simple  rule  of 
life  for  skeptics  and  believers  together :  "  Fear  God,  and 
keep  His  commandments  :  for  this  is  the  whole  duty  of  man." 

The  Psalms  may  now  and  then  defile,  as  it  were,  their  lips 
by  muttering  imprecations ;  but,  as  another  has  so  beautifully 
said,  they  have  become  "  the  classic  to  all  time  of  prayer  and 
praise." 

To  reckless  and  evil-minded  critics  the  Song  of  Songs  may 
seem  a  voluptuous  composition  of  a  human  hand,  without  a 
trace  of  God ;  but  to  the  reverent  scholar  it  is  "  the  exquisite 
celebration  of  a  pure  love  in  humble  life ;  of  a  love  which  no 
splendor  can  dazzle  and  no  flattery  seduce." 

The  Book  of  Jonah  may  or  may  not  be  history ;  it  may  be 
a  divine  fiction,  like  the  parables  of  Christ ;  it  is  none  the  less 
a  poem  of  divine  beauty,  teaching  of  the  sin  and  repentance  of 
men  and  prophet,  and  the  tender  mercy  of  the  Father. 


HIS  EXALTATION.  91 

The  Book  of  Daniel  may  or  may  not  have  been  written  by 
Daniel  or  in  Daniel's  time ;  but  it  shows  us  the  figure  of  a 
godly  hero,  who,  when  he  knew  "  that  the  writing  was  signed  " 
decreeing  death  to  any  but  idolaters,  "  kneeled  upon  his  knees 
three  times  a  day,  and  prayed,  and  gave  thanks  to  God,  as  he 
did  aforetime."  It  shows  yet  a  brighter  and  diviner  figure  of 
"  one  like  unto  the  Son  of  man,"  "  like  unto  the  Son  of  God  ;" 
of  a  kingdom  "  not  of  this  world,"  a  kingdom  that  is  "  for  ever 
and  ever,"  "  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness." 

The  Apocalypse  of  John  may  be  full  of  mystical  and  strange 
figures,  lurid,  ominous,  blazing  with  a  sulphurous  light ;  but 
the  Christian  scholar  may  see  in  it  "an  inspired  outline  of 
contemporary  history ;  .  .  .  the  tremendous  manifesto  of  a 
Christian  seer  against  the  blood-stained  triumph  of  imperial 
heathenism ;  a  paean  and  a  prophecy  over  the  ashes  of  the 
martyrs ;  the  thundering  reverberations  of  a  mighty  spirit 
struck  by  the  fierce  plectrum  of  the  Neronian  persecution,  and 
answering  in  impassioned  music  which,  like  many  of  David's 
psalms,  dies  away  into  the  language  of  rapturous  hope."  The 
soul  of  man,  in  any  spot  and  in  any  time,  may  see  therein  the 
figure  of  Him  on  the  white  horse,  going  forth  "  conquering 
and  to  conquer."  The  souls  of  men  everywhere,  panting  "  as 
the  stag  panteth  after  the  water-brooks,"  may  hear  the  music 
of  the  voices  of  the  skies  saying,  "  The  Spirit  and  the  bride 
say,  Come.  .  .  .  And  let  him  that  is  athirst  come.  And 
whosoever  will,  let  him  take  the  water  of  life  freely." 

4.  Whence  come  these  mighty  thoughts,  these  lofty,  mov- 
ing sentiments,  these  trumpetings  of  irresistible  and  redeem- 
ing truth  ?  In  the  sacred  history  and  narrative,  in  laws  and 
prophecies,  in  poems  and  parables,  in  the  cold  calculation  of 
premeditated  proverb  and  the  bursting  flame  of  impetuous 
and  exultant  song.  They  are  only  there — in  The  Book.  They 
are  not  elsewhere.  Take  the  choice  sayings  and  productions 
of  any  other  set  of  writers  in  any  age,  gather  together  the 
devoutest  and  most  brilliant  compositions  of  the  choice 
preachers  of  the  world  to-day,  and  see  if  any  of  them  would 


92  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

dare  to  venture  to  take  rank  with,  could  ever  hope  to  enter 
into,  the  leaves  of  The  Book.  Reason  as  one  will,  it  seems  a 
folly  and  a  blasphemy  to  entertain  the  thought.  Are  they  in- 
spired ?  If  not  inspired  whence  are  they  ?  Are  they  inspired  ? 
Let  the  word  perish.     They  are  of  God  ! 

5.  Mark  how  these  writings  have  come  down  to  us;  and 
how  they  have  been  bound  together,  not  by  the  flimsy  and 
materialistic  elements  of  paper  and  of  paste,  not  by  the  strong 
artistic  skill  of  binders,  with  their  implements  of  skin  and 
clasp  ;  bound  by  a  unity  of  thought  and  sentiment  and  brilliant 
purposes  that  defies  all  criticism,  that  answers  every  doubt. 
How  got  the  Bible  here  ?  How  came  it  here  as  one  ? — a 
thousand  bits  of  writing,  the  first  and  last  perhaps  two  thou- 
sand years  apart ;  written  by  historian  and  poet,  king  and  priest, 
narrator,  scribe,  governor,  prophet,  publican,  Pharisee,  physi- 
cian, and  fisherman ;  high  and  low,  prince  and  peasant,  skilled 
and  unskilled,  learned  and  unlettered.  Hath  it  come  through 
the  "  fortuitous  concurrence  "  of  circumstances  ?  Is  it  the 
"  natural  selection "  of  literature,  completing  its  work  two 
thousand  years  ago,  and  then  forever  vanishing  among  the 
lost  forces  of  forgotten  time  ?  Has  this  sublimest  and  most 
potent  power  in  all  the  mental  and  spiritual  forces  of  the  lit- 
erary universe  been  annihilated  ?  How  doth  the  tree  still 
stand,  "all  clothed  in  living  green,"  with  its  umbrageous 
branches  stretching  over  the  continents,  and  its  leaves  "for 
the  healing  of  the  nations,"  while  its  roots  are  withered  into 
dust,  and  its  soil  struck  out  of  space  down  into  the  dark  abyss 
of  nothingness?  Surely  if  we  are  men  and  not  idiots,  if  reason 
hath  not  "fled  to  brutish  beasts,"  there  is  a  meaning  super- 
customary,  extra-historical,  more  than  any  other  human  cir- 
cumstance that  we  have  ever  known,  in  the  marvellous  gather- 
ing and  preservation  of  these  books  throughout  the  ages. 
There  is  a  divine  philosophy  in  their  affiliation ;  there  is  a 
chemistry  of  heaven  in  their  cohesion.  That  a  divine  Intelli- 
gence and  Will  and  Purpose  hath  brought  them  into  one,  and 
held  them  there,  is  a  reasonable  conclusion.     Otherwise  they 


II1S   EXALTATIOX.  93 

are  a  prodigy  of  the  divinest  fairy-land,  defying  fleshly  han- 
dling, and  legally  consistent  only  with  the  nature  of  dreams. 
That  God  exalted  men  to  make  them;  that  God  filled  men 
with  surpassing  intellectual  and  spiritual  power  to  write  them ; 
that  God  marshalled  the  nations  and  ordered  their  inarch  in 
time,  and  moulded  history  and  controlled  events,  and  shaped 
the  course  of  time,  and  so  with  His  omnipotent  hand  hath 
pushed  these  books  together  down  the  centuries,  and  holds 
them  firm  within  His  grasp  before  the  millions  of  living  men 
to-day,  is  comprehensible.  But  otherwise  they  are  as  the  phan- 
tom pranks  of  the  phantom  deities  about  Olympus,  or  the  one 
monstrosity  of  intellectual  nature. 

6.  And  then  their  unity  of  thought  and  structure.  There 
is  no  alien  book  within  the  binding.  The  same  foundation 
underlies  each  superstructure.  Genesis  and  Revelation  are  as 
the  opposing  fragments  of  a  broken  ring — a  ring  of  pure,  fine 
gold,  describing  the  eternal  circle  of  the  love  and  power  of 
God.  Psalms  and  Leviticus  are  the  poem  and  its  theme. 
Everywhere  throughout  the  Bible  sin  is  painted  black,  insidi- 
ous, and  damning.  And  everywhere  is  righteousness  "  a  shin- 
ing light,  that  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day." 
Everywhere  there  is  hope  for  the  despondent,  comfort  for  the 
sorrowing,  strength  for  the  weak,  courage  for  the  fearful,  light 
to  them  that  sit  in  darkness,  consolation  for  the  suffering,  rest 
for  the  weary,  life  for  those  that  are  in  the  shadow  of  death. 
There  is  no  temporizing ;  there  are  no  false  lights ;  there  is 
no  veiling  of  the  truth.  The  city  of  God  is  built  foursquare, 
as  the  cherubim  of  God  came  from  the  four  quarters  of  the 
heavens.  Right  is  ever  right,  and  wrong  is  ever  wrong.  Sin 
is  ever  pain,  and  righteousness  is  joy  and  peace.  False  learn- 
ing, fanatical  and  theological  prejudice,  dull  ignorance,  tech- 
nical interpretation  and  misinterpretation  may  pit  text  against 
text  and  passage  against  passage,  and  wrest  and  wrangle  lan- 
guage out  of  place,  but  the  unity  of  God's  book  is  indestructi- 
ble and  beyond  assail.  Its  main  idea  is  ever  the  same.  Its 
main  thought  is  ever  consistent.     It  speaks  forever  for  God 


94  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

and  suffering  and  wandering  humanity,  of  truth  and  immor- 
tality and  honor. 

And  the  "  river  of  water  of  life  "  flows  out  of  this  Eden  of 
divine  ideas  "to  water  the  garden."  The  stream  of  the  Mes- 
sianic prophecy  runs  through  it  all.  In  the  first  hour  of  guilt 
and  pain  the  promise  is  made :  "  The  seed  of  the  woman  shall 
bruise  the  serpent's  head."  We  care  not  how  critics  and  inter- 
preters may  strip  away  the  verbal  significance  of  those  words. 
The  underlying  sentiment  is  one  with  the  cry  of  the  Redeemer 
from  the  throne :  "  Surely  I  come  quickly."  In  the  light  of 
the  divine  history  of  the  Christ  the  words  have  become  a 
prophecy  of  Him  if  they  were  never  meant  to  be.  And  so 
through  all  the  book  the  living  waters  run.  He  is  a  prophet 
like  unto  Moses ;  a  child  born,  and  a  son  given  ;  "  The  mighty 
God,  The  everlasting  Father,  The  Prince  of  Peace ;"  the  right- 
eous Servant,  the  Man  of  Sorrows,  on  whom  should  be  laid 
the  iniquities  of  us  all ;  "  Messiah  the  Prince,"  "  cut  off,  but 
not  for  himself;"  "  one  like  unto  the  Son  of  man,"  to  whom  is 
given  an  "  everlasting  kingdom  " ;  the  "  Glory  "  of  the  second 
temple ;  the  "Sun  of  righteousness"  ;  the  Son  of  God,  the  great 
I  AM ;  the  living,  resurrected  Jesus,  who  is  "  alive  forever- 
more  " ;  who  "  came  to  seek  and  save  the  lost " ;  who  gave  us 
the  matchless,  loving  story  of  the  prodigal ;  who  in  His  match- 
less personality  hath  made  men  know  how  "  Blessed  are  the 
poor  in  spirit :  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Blessed 
are  they  that  mourn :  for  they  shall  be  comforted.  Blessed 
are  the  meek :  for  they  shall  inherit  the  earth.  Blessed  are 
they  which  do  hunger  and  thirst  after  righteousness :  for  they 
shall  be  filled.  Blessed  are  the  merciful :  for  they  shall  obtain 
mercy.  Blessed  are  the  pure  in  heart :  for  they  shall  see  God. 
Blessed  are  the  peacemakers :  for  they  shall  be  called  the 
children  of  God.  Blessed  are  they  which  are  persecuted  for 
righteousness'  sake :  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 


X. 


HIS  POWER. 


"This  is  thy  work,  Almighty  Providence! 
Whose  Power,  beyond  the  stretch  of  human  thought." 

THE  moral  power  of  the  Bible  in  the  world  is  another  por- 
tentous fact.  In  this  nineteenth  century  of  light  and 
learning  and  science  and  sneering  skepticism,  in  this  nineteenth 
century  of  pride  and  disbelief  and  criticism,  two  hundred  mil- 
lion copies  of  the  Bible  have  issued  from  the  printing-press. 
Voltaire  had  said  that  in  a  century  from  his  day  it  would 
cease  to  be  printed  at  all.  Why  this  unprecedented  issue  ? 
By  what  "  selection  "  has  the  Bible  been  chosen,  out  of  the 
ages,  out  of  the  countless  myriads  of  books  that  are  crowding 
the  millions  of  the  world's  printing-presses,  thus  to  be  multi- 
plied beyond  the  outermost  limits  of  competition  ?  The  Bible 
has  been  translated  into  almost  every  tongue  over  the  earth's 
surface.  Written  originally  in  Hebrew  and  Greek,  it  has 
passed  over  into  Egyptian,  Coptic,  Arabic,  Persian,  Indian, 
Chinese,  Japanese,  Latin,  Italian,  Swiss,  Dutch,  German, 
Russian,  Norwegian,  Eskimo,  French,  English,  Spanish,  Por- 
tuguese, and  a  multitude  of  dialects  and  separate  languages 
among  the  North  American  Indians,  the  numerous  tribes  of 
Africa,  and  the  Polynesian  and  other  islanders.  Men  from 
"  every  nation  under  heaven  "  may  say  of  these  writers,  as  the 
strangers  at  Jerusalem  exclaimed  under  the  pentecostal  show- 
er: "We  do  hear  them  speak  in  our  tongue  the  wonderful 

95 


96  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

works  of  God."  And  wherever  it  has  been,  wherever  it  is — in 
distant  or  present  time,  in  torrid  or  frozen  zone,  on  the  moun- 
tain-tops or  in  the  plains,  on  land  or  sea,  in  the  palace  of 
Victoria  or  in  the  mud-hut  of  her  meanest  subjects  in  the 
boundless  forests  of  the  Dark  Continent,  with  the  intellectual 
and  the  feeble-minded,  with  the  great  and  strong,  and  with 
the  poor  and  weak — it  is  a  new  force,  a  superior  power,  a 
power  embracing  and  limiting  within  itself  its  own  genera  and 
species,  a  power  that  stands  alone  in  reach  and  majesty  in  all 
the  literature  of  the  earth.  It  is  a  power  that  not  only  speaks 
of,  but  "makes  for  righteousness."  It  is  a  power  that  stirs 
men  out  of  the  stagnant  pool  of  slimy  wickedness,  and  leads 
them  to  a  sparkling  fountain  of  a  living  virtue.  If  it  were 
not  inspired  the  veriest  infidel  could  not  deny  that  it  hath 
ever  been  inspiring.  Men  have  perverted  it  in  this  day  and 
in  past  centuries,  and  made  it  the  excuse  of  passion  and  of 
crime.  They  have  persecuted  and  tortured  and  assassinated 
in  its  name.  They  have  distorted  its  commands  into  instru- 
ments of  heinous  cruelty  and  hypocrisy.  So  men  did  make 
Jesus  Christ,  the  innocent  and  lofty,  the  pretext  for  their 
bloody  thirst.  But  the  Bible  has  ever  been  the  greatest  of  all 
instrumental  powers  for  good.  It  has  inspired  men  to  nobler 
and  grander  lives.  It  has  made  the  greatest  heroes  in  history. 
It  has  blessed  and  punned  the  soil  and  atmosphere  of  human 
life  in  every  civilized  land.  It  has  disbanded  armies  and  pre- 
vented war.  It  has  taken  away  the  bloody,  brutish  appetites 
of  men  who  fed  on  men.  It  has  stopped  the  Roman  patrician 
when  he  would  have  exposed  his  suffering  infant  to  the  eagle 
and  the  fox.  It  has  stayed  the  hand  of  the  Fiji  savage  when 
she  would  crush  her  children's  heads  against  the  jagged  rock. 
It  has  made  the  world  pitiful  and  tender  to  the  maimed  and 
halt  and  blind,  to  innocents  and  imbeciles,  to  the  aged  and 
infirm,  to  men  so  loathsomely  diseased  that  they  became  a 
walking  pestilence.  It  has  lifted  the  drunkard  out  of  the  fiery 
lake  in  which  would  perish  his  imperishable  soul.  It  has  led 
the  robber  and  the  murderer  out  of  the  midnight  of  their  crimes 


HIS  POWER.  97 

into  the  pure  light  of  pardon  and  reform.  It  has  made  men 
chain  the  devils  which  infested  them.  It  has  washed  away 
the  foulness  of  the  ancient  and  the  modern  Magdalen,  and 
clothed  her  in  the  white  robe  of  righteousness.  It  has  built 
up  character  until  it  has  become  a  towering  monument  of 
purity  and  shining  strength.  The  greatest  intellects  have 
bowed  before  it  in  grateful  homage ;  the  humblest  slave  has 
looked  up  to  it  and  found  liberty  and  dignity  of  soul.  It  has 
blessed  and  elevated  society,  and  wrought  its  power  in  civili- 
zation, governments,  and  thrones.  It  has  given  to  men  the 
courage  and  the  grandeur  of  the  gods  ;  nay,  it  hath  given  them 
the  courage  and  the  grandeur  of  redeemed  humanity ;  be- 
cause it  has  given  them  the  inspiration  of  an  unearthly  faith, 
through  which  they  have  "  subdued  kingdoms,  wrought  right- 
eousness, obtained  promises,  stopped  the  mouths  of  lions, 
quenched  the  violence  of  fire,  escaped  the  edge  of  the  sword, 
out  of  weakness  were  made  strong,  waxed  valiant  in  fight, 
turned  to  flight  the  armies  of  the  aliens.  Women  received  their 
dead  raised  to  life  again :  and  others  were  tortured,  not  ac- 
cepting deliverance ;  that  they  might  obtain  a  better  resurrec- 
tion :  and  others  had  trial  of  cruel  mockings  and  scourgings, 
yea,  moreover  of  bonds  and  imprisonment :  they  were  stoned, 
they  were  sawn  asunder,  were  tempted,  were  slain  with  the 
sword :  they  wandered  about  in  sheepskins  and  goatskins ; 
being  destitute,  afflicted,  tormented ;  of  whom  the  world  was 
not  worthy." 

Are  these  the  signs  of  Inspiration  ?  Put  the  word  aside, 
and  ask  another  question :  Are  these  the  signs  that  these  high 
thoughts  of  sacred  penning,  that  this  unearthly,  spiritual  force 
of  sentiment  came  from  God  ?  Here  is  the  summing  up  of 
evidence :  men  believed  that  they  wrote  by  the  special  power 
of  God ;  the  Jewish  nation  and  the  Christian  world  believed 
it ;  the  writing  constitutes  the  most  marvellous  literature  that 
the  world  has  known ;  its  gathering  together  and  preservation 
seem  a  miracle  of  heavenly  purpose ;  the  noble  thought,  the 
lofty  grandeur  of  the  books  are  incomparable ;   the  unity  of 


98  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

the  Bible  is  the  wonder  of  all  ages;  its  spiritual  and  moral 
power  are  unique,  tremendous,  boundless. 

Is  this  the  evidence  of  Inspiration  ?  It  is  majestic  and 
convincing  evidence  of  something.  We  need  not  care  for 
technicalities  and  definitions — the  Bible  is  greater  than  them 
all.  We  need  not  care  for  biblical  mistakes  and  inaccuracies 
— they  are  not  so  much  as  the  wart  on  Cromwell's  nose ;  the 
giant  Protector  was  still  there,  and  the  wart  was  on  his  outer- 
most projection.  The  Bible  writers  never  claimed  infallibility 
of  ink  and  pen-point.  They  never  claimed  infallibility  against 
infinitesimal  kinks  in  the  thread  of  Hebrew  history,  or  dust- 
flecks  on  the  Jewish  statistics. 

The  Bible  is,  however,  an  infallible  guide  to  life  and  right- 
eousness, to  immortality  and  eternal  joy. 

It  is  inspired — if  theologians  will  insist  upon  the  word — 
because  it  is  made  of  God.  The  breath  of  God  is  in  it — 
supernaturally,  not  contra-naturally.  How  men  wrote,  when 
they  wrote,  what  they  wrote  with,  what  were  their  physical 
attitudes  and  their  mental  analyses  at  the  time,  are  neither 
here  nor  there.  These  are  but  trifles — fringings  on  the  outer 
skirts  of  investigation.  The  Bible  finds  men  and  controls 
them.  It  rescues  them  and  glorifies  them.  It  teaches  truth, 
transcendent  and  eternal. 

This  is  the  Bible's  own  unique,  exclusive  power  ! 

It  makes  no  difference  if  it  be  natural  or  supernatural,  if  it 
be  developed  in  history  or  flashed  forth  from  the  skies.  It  is 
an  awful  and  sublime  power,  here  in  human  life,  come  down 
to  us,  seen,  felt,  exalted,  enthroned. 

Now  where  do  the  great  powers  here  present  in  the  world 
come  from  ?  "  God  spake  once ;  and  twice  I  have  also  heard 
the  same  ;  that  power  belongeth  unto  God." 

Pick  up  a  stone,  a  "smooth"  stone  out  of  the  "brook,"  if 
you  will.  It  is  hard.  It  is  enduring.  Hurl  it  against  the 
Sevres  vase  upon  the  antique  stand,  and  nothing  will  be  left 
but  the  broken  fragments  and  the  "scent  of  the  roses."  Sling 
it  against  the  Philistine's  forehead,  and  it  sinks  into  the  springs 


HIS  POWER.  99 

of  life  and  chokes  them.  This  is  the  stone's  power.  Or  the 
great  stone  from  the  quarry  has  power  to  uphold  a  temple  or 
a  palace.     Or  it  supports  the  "  everlasting  hills." 

Go  out  amid  the  golden  grain  in  harvest-time,  and  see  it 
sported  as  the  plaything  of  the  winds,  and  watch  the  harvester 
as  he  builds  it  into  pyramids  of  treasure,  and  see  it  threshed 
and  fanned  and  gathered  into  barns.  It  is  the  "staff  of  life." 
It  feeds  the  prince  and  the  beggar ;  it  strengthens  man  and 
beast.  This  is  the  power  of  wheat.  It  has  its  kindred  grains. 
It  is  a  petty  king  in  the  great  vegetable  kingdom.  And  the 
power  of  all  the  kingdom  is  the  power  of  giving  fleshly  life. 

Go  into  the  sculptor's  studio  while  he  points  the  magic 
chisel  against  the  solid  stone,  and  the  hammer  falls,  and  the 
fragments  fly  as  they  will.  Little  by  little,  and  inch  by  inch, 
through  the  sightless  grain  the  iron  is  driven,  wrhile  the  statue 
grows.     This  is  the  power  of  human  skill  and  genius. 

In  the  springs  and  rivers,  in  the  clouds  and  air,  in  the  hills 
and  valleys,  in  the  land  and  sea,  in  the  climate  and  soil,  in  the 
birds  that  fly  and  the  fish  that  swim,  in  the  insect  that  crawls 
and  in  the  beasts  that  spring  and  leap,  in  different  lands  and 
different  times,  in  all  animate  and  inanimate  nature,  in  the  vari- 
ous endowments  of  mankind  of  skill  and  intellect,  of  reason, 
imagination,  conscience,  science,  philosophy,  oratory,  art,  and 
letters,  there  are  different,  varying,  and  specific  powers.  And 
surely  they  were  all  born  of  God.  They  did  not  originate  of 
themselves ;  they  were  not  the  inventions  or  creations  of  man. 
They  came  from  the  eternal  and  all-reaching  Power  beyond 
the  realm  of  vision  and  of  intellectual  chemistry,  the  Power 
that  underlies  and  overshadows  the  spheres.  So  said  the 
father  of  Greek  philosophy :  "  God  is  in  everything."  It  is 
not  pantheism ;  it  is  the  devout  recognition  of  the  divine  om- 
nipresence, and  that  "  every  good  and  every  perfect  gift  Com- 
eth down  from  the  Father  of  lights."  It  is  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  divine  influence. 

Now  Inspiration,  stripped  of  technicalities  and  definitions 
and  theologisms,  and  of  the  prejudices  and  fanaticisms  that 


IOO  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

have  surrounded  it,  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than  the  divine 
influence.  In  theology  it  has  been  crushed  and  bound  into 
extremely  narrow  limits,  and  confined  to  very  narrow  func- 
tions. In  very  fact  and  truth  it  is  expanded  through  the  uni- 
verse of  God.  It  is  the  influence  of  God  which  has  been 
many  times  expressed  within  the  sacred  books  by  words  that 
signify  to  us  a  wind,  or  breath,  or  spirit.  It  is  this  that  in  the 
dim  beginnings  "  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  waters."  It  is 
this  that  seized  upon  the  wayward  will  of  Saul.  It  is  this  that 
Job  declared  was  in  his  "  nostrils."  It  is  the  same  word  that 
describes  a  " perverse  spirit,"  a  "spirit  of  jealousy,"  an  "evil 
spirit,"  a  "  spirit  of  all  flesh,"  a  "  spirit  of  the  beast  that  goeth 
downward  to  the  earth,"  the  "four  spirits  of  the  heavens." 
Even  the  lowest  and  malign  spirits  are  proclaimed  to  have 
their  original  power  from  God.  It  is  the  word  ruach  in  the 
Hebrew.  It  has  a  high  sense.  It  means  the  Spirit  of  God. 
It  means  the  power  of  God  in  the  divine  nature.  But  it  also 
means  the  power  of  God  in  man  and  beast,  and  in  the  winds 
of  heaven.  The  power  varies,  of  course,  in  the  various  crea- 
tures. It  hath  endless  and  countless  manifestations.  It  can- 
not be  the  same  in  the  beasts  and  in  the  bushes,  in  the  flower 
and  in  the  family,  in  the  rocky  heights  and  in  the  soul  of 
man.  But  the  breath  of  God  is  in  all  nature  as  well  as  in  the 
prophets  and  The  Book :  "  By  the  word  of  the  Lord  were  the 
heavens  made ;  and  all  the  host  of  them  by  the  breath  *  of  his 
mouth;  "  "There  are  diversities  of  gifts,  but  the  same  Spirit." 
All  things  are  inspired  because  they  have  in  them  the  breath, 
or  power,  of  God.  All  men  are  inspired  because  the  Spirit  of 
God  quickens  and  wooes  the  soul  of  every  one :  "  There  is  a 
spirit  in  man :  and  the  inspiration  of  the  Almighty  giveth  them 
understanding."  It  is  not  enough  to  say  that  the  word  which 
describes  the  "  Spirit "  of  God  is  not  the  same  as  that  which 
describes  the  "  breath "  of  life — that  ruach  means  a  living 
spirit,  and  n'shamah  an  animal  breath ;  because  the  former  is 
used  in  the  same  sense  as  the  latter,  and  sometimes  in  a  lower 

*  Ruach. 


HIS  POWER.  101 

sense.  It  was  ruach  that  Job  had  in  his  nostrils,  and  rfshamah 
that  God  breathed  into  Adam's  nostrils ;  and  ruac/i,  again, 
that  Job  describes  as  "  the  breath  of  all  mankind,"  and  ruach 
that  the  Preacher  calls  "  the  spirit  of  the  beast."  It  is  not 
amiss,  therefore,  to  use  the  gift  to  Adam  of  a  living  soul  as  a 
parallel  to  the  inspiration  of  the  prophets.  It  is  not  amiss, 
amid  the  "  differences  of  administrations  "  and  "  diversities  of 
operations,"  to  say  that  "  it  is  the  same  God  that  worketh  all 
in  all." 

"  Inspiration "  is  a  metaphor.  But  metaphors  stand  for 
something.  Inspiration  stands  for  the  eternal  power  and  in- 
fluence of  God.  It  has  a  universal  application.  But  in  the 
distributions  of  the  power  it  has  its  special  applications.  And 
so,  in  Christian  thought,  it  stands  especially  for  the  righteous, 
spiritual  influence  of  God  upon  the  prophets  and  The  Book. 
The  man  is  nothing  and  the  book  is  nothing  apart  from  the 
power  of  God.  But  God  touched  them,  He  spoke  to  them,  He 
blew  upon  them,  He  breathed  into  them — all  metaphors  be- 
come aflame  at  the  radiance  of  the  divine  Presence — and  they 
were  invested  with  God's  unique  religious  power  over  the  souls 
of  men.  This  is  the  meaning  of  Inspiration,  in  its  divine  sim- 
plicity, un trammeled  and  unclouded  by  systems  and  defini- 
tions. This  is  the  meaning  bursting  through  the  metaphor  and 
abounding.  It  is  a  meaning  in  which  Judea  and  Christendom 
have  been  united  while  they  knew  it  not.  It  is  a  meaning 
ever  accepted  by  the  conscience  of  God's  people,  though  their 
consciousness  may  not  have  been  awake  to  it.  It  is  a  mean- 
ing that  no  science  nor  criticism  nor  infidelity  can  ever  chal- 
lenge successfully,  whatever  they  may  add  to  it,  because  it  is 
witnessed  by  all  history  and  observation  and  experience.  The 
dumb,  dead,  natural  thing  is  swept  by  the  breath  of  God, 
and  it  becomes  instinct  with  a  supernatural  life  and  a  divine 
potency. 

In  the  stately  Cathedral  of  St.  Paul,  in  London,  English 
gratitude  placed  a  monument  to  the  memory  of  the  great 
Duke  of  Wellington.     It  has  been  called  "  the  triumph  of 


102  THE  BREATH  OF  GOD. 

English  sculpture."  The  warrior  was  dead,  and  therefore  his 
effigy,  in  bronze,  reposes,  on  a  massive  sarcophagus.  Above  it 
is  supported  a  marble  canopy,  with  a  bronze  group  at  either 
end.  In  one  Truth  tears  out  the  tongue  of  Falsehood.  In 
the  other  Valor  tramples  Cowardice  underfoot.  The  pure, 
exalted  vigor  with  which  these  fair,  draped  women  overcome 
these  foul,  nude  men,  the  bitter  anguish  and  the  cringing 
meanness  which  the  Vices  suffer,  are  vivid  and  alive.  Yet 
they  are  only  bronze — a  dumb  and  lifeless  metal.  The  sculp- 
tor breathed  his  spirit  into  them,  and  they  are  clothed  with 
life  and  power. 

History  tells  us  that  another  Sculptor  worked,  in  some  far- 
distant  age,  perhaps  upon  a  plain  of  fragrant  verdure  in  the 
land  of  Babylonia.  There  were  no  models  there.  There  was 
no  form  in  earth  or  sky  to  image  forth  the  figure  to  be  made. 
But  the  skilful  hands  dipped  into  the  rich  red  clay  and  shaped 
its  plastic  substance  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye.  The  limbs 
were  straight  and  roundly  molded  ;  the  trunk  was  raised  upon 
them  in  graceful,  massive  strength ;  the  head  was  set  aloft,  a 
paragon  of  manly  beauty.  Beneath  the  outer  surface  of  the 
figure  lay,  in  easy  attitude,  skein  upon  skein  of  sinewy  muscles, 
and  a  fairy  network  of  deep-blue  veins  showed  through.  No 
statue  of  Apollo  Belvedere,  or  Moses  after  Michelangelo,  could 
ever  rank  with  this.  It  was  at  once  the  beginning  and  the 
mastery  of  the  sculptor's  art.  It  seemed  as  though  it  were 
the  likeness  of  a  god — so  firm  and  strong  and  full  of  grace, 
the  mouth ;  so  shapely,  delicately  molded,  fair,  and  ready  for 
the  awakening  of  a  king,  the  eyes ;  so  high,  majestic,  full  of 
power,  the  brow,  rising  as  a  montain-peak  of  intellectual 
excellence.  But  it  was  only  clay.  It  was  not  dead,  for  it 
had  never  lived.  The  masterpiece  of  ages,  yet  wasted  in  the 
wilderness.  At  once  the  glory  and  the  pity  of  creation.  But 
then  a  subtle  influence  spread  over  the  clay.  A  thrill  shot 
through  the  matchless  form.  It  trembled.  And  the  godlike 
eyes  were  opened.  The  lord  of  earth  was  living  !  "  And 
the  Lord  God  formed  man  of  the  dust  of  the  ground,  and 


HIS   POWER.  103 

breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of  life ;  and  man  became 
a  living  soul." 

So  all  the  stars  and  skies  and  all  the  breathing  multitudes 
are  by  the  inspiration  of  the  Spirit  of  the  great  Creator. 

So,  in  those  pages  so  divine  and  beautiful,  so  full  of  all  the 
best  and  holiest  power,  there  is,  profoundly  and  preeminently, 
the  Breath  of  God. 


THE    SUPREME   RITE: 


BY 


Rev.  FRANK   HALLAM. 


CONTAINS 

doctrines  ot  Hll  prominent  Christian  JBofcies 
on  tbe  t>ol£  Communion, 

TAKEN   FROM   THEIR   OWN    STANDARDS. 


COMMENTS. 


"  I  write  to  thank  you  for  having  written  and  published  '  The  Supreme 
Rite.'  I  have  enjoyed  thoroughly  the  reading  of  it.  I  consider  it  one  of 
the  very  strongest  and  most  valuable  presentations  of  the  subject  I  have 
ever  read,  and  I  earnestly  hope  that  it  may  have  the  widest  circulation." 
— Bishop  Dudley. 

"  I  desire  cordially  to  express  my  very  great  satisfaction  and  delight 
in  the  reading  of  '  The  Supreme  Rite.'  There  is  breadth  and  depth  in 
the  treatment,  and  a  wide  but  orthodox  freedom.  The  style  is  lucidity 
itself,  and  at  times  rises  to  a  very  lofty  eloquence." — Bishop  Thompson. 

"  Throughout  I  kept  in  mind  the  question,  What  is  there  here  that  I 
must  disagree  with,  in  fact,  statement,  doctrine,  or  sentiment?  I  find 
nothing  that  I  can  point  to.  In  the  writing  there  is  much  to  admire.  A 
graphic  and  reverent  discussion." — Bishop  Huntington. 

"  A  glance  shows  that  the  handling  of  the  subject  is  fresh,  vigorous, 
and  thoughtful." — Bishop  Littlejohn. 

"  With  the  teaching  of  the  paper  I  am  in  complete  accord,  and  it  is 
my  firm  conviction  that  unless  Christian  people  can  be  persuaded  to  take 
this  catholic  view  of  sacramental  doctrine  anything  like  church  unity  is 
a  sheer  impossibility." — The  Rev.  W.  R.  Huntington,  D.D. 

"'The  Supreme  Rite'  is  strong,  original,  timely,  and  most  interest- 
ing."— The  Rev.  T.  A.  Tidball,  D.D. 

"  That  is  a  splendid  article  of  Hallam's  on  the  Eucharist.  I  cannot 
recall  any  recent  article  in  any  periodical,  English  or  American,  that  is  as 
strong,  broad,  and  deep  in  its  treatment  of  this  great  theme.  It  is  high 
enough,  too,  to  satisfy  any  High-Churchman  who  will  ask  himself  what 
his  words  really  mean." — The  Rev.  Hall  Harrison,  D.D. 

"  I  cannot  find  words  strong  enough  to  express  my  admiration  for  the 
beauty  and  eloquence  of  style  and  thought.  It  is  exceedingly  able  and 
interesting.     I  am  delighted  with  it." — The  Rev.  Reverdy  Estill,  D.D. 

"  I  have  never  seen  so  much  information  on  the  subject  of  the  Holy 
Communion  given  in  so  small  a  compass  and  in  so  readable  a  form." — 
The  Rev.  E.  If.  Ward,  D.D. 

THOMAS    WHITTAKER, 

2  and  3  BIBLE  HOUSE,  NEW   YORK. 


